The Beginning of Mysteries
by PromisesWithinLife
Summary: #2. A simple job to protect. A simple rule to follow. However, when all is too simple, we tend to look pass it and not care about it. Mikan Sakura - the one to protect and Natsume Hyuuga- the one to be protected. "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will be pay the consequences for your foolishness"
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Prologue

"What is it?" asked a man wearing a mask, dressed in all black. He had known that he was being followed since he left the work place. There was no reaction. The man turned to face the place he suspected the person to be. "Come out" he demanded, "Now"

A tall woman with shoulder length hair stepped forward. The woman had black shoulder length hair and had fire-red eyes.

"Please, I need your help" she told the man. The man turned away and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his long, black coat.

"Go to the police. I am not use to you" he told her. The woman grabbed the man's arm before quickly letting go when the man yanked it out of her grasp and continued to walk again.

"No, I know you'll help me. Please, I'll pay you as much as you want" she told him. The man stopped walking instantly and spun around. The next thing the woman knew her back was up against the wall with an arm pressed against her throat.

"What do you know?" the man hissed. The man knew by the sharp intake that he heard from the woman as soon as she realised what had happened, that she would be harmless. Slowly, he lowered his arm and took a step back. The woman placed her hands on her neck, still in shock.

"How did you find out about me?" he asked her, staring at the woman still staring at the ground, hands on her throat. The woman quickly snapped out of her thoughts and answered the question.

"It was sort of an unsure thing. My assistant remembered a distant friend that knew someone for certain jobs, although they weren't sure how" she said. The man nodded, believing it.

"So what is it?" he asked again. The woman squared her shoulders and held out a folder to the man in front of her. From the time she knew the man, she already knew he liked people to keep a certain distance and wait for him to walk up first. The man took a step forward and took the folder from her hands and opened it.

"Well, you obviously don't want him killed" he said. The woman looked at him, horrified.

"Dear goblets!" she exclaimed as her hand flew up to her chest. "Of course now" she said. "I want-no, I _need_ him protected. To make sure he has no danger headed his way" she told the man who had just finished scanning through the full folder.

"How much do you think it will cost?" he asked her.

"A lot" answered the woman. "How much will it be?" she asked him.

"A lot" he repeated. The woman nodded.

"How will I pay?" she asked him.

"Don't be so full of yourself. We have many other requests to look through. We want the best offer" said the man. The woman's eyes widened.

"NO" she shouted, marching up towards him and grabbing his arm with both her hands to make sure he couldn't yank them out of her grasp again. "Please, I beg of you" she pleaded, kneeling down on the ground. "I need him safe. Even if it's just for the rest of his schooling year" she added.

The man yanked his hand away and started to walk. The woman stared at him, still on the ground. Her eyes stung.

The man suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky, as if rolling his eyes at it.

"It will be a monthly pay. You will receive a letter in a few days- Now more than three. It will tell you all the things you need to do and what else to include" he told her before disappearing. The woman smiled, grateful.

"Thank you" she thanked him, even though he was already gone. She then quickly picked herself back onto her feet and dusted herself before heading back home.

From the distance, the man watched the woman leave before walking off himself.

"This opportunity… will be a new start for her" he whispered.


	2. The Beginning

**Summary: Mikan Sakura, an operative- someone who works by breaking the rules to do the right thing, is given a mission to protect Natsume Hyuuga - one entitled to take over his parent's renowned company. But this mission has one side to it: "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will end up dyed in blood"**

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Chapter One

Heavy breathing was heard in a dark room. In the room was a young, brunette girl, breathing heavily after a tough work out session with her trainer. Leaning over with the palms of her hands on her knees, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing until the rapid thumping of her heart calmed down.

"Geez, that was too much, brother!" she complained. Nearby, a tall male dressed in black rolled his eyes.

"Get used to it. You need to improve" he told her. "Anyway, stand up properly or else you'll end up becoming a hunchback if you keep bending over like that" he added. He almost laughed at the reaction he got from the girl in front of him when he said that. As soon as the girl heard what he said, she stood up straight immediately.

Wiping the sweat off her forehead with the towel she had around her neck, she took a few steps closer to her trainer and spoke. "So, what's with the folder, Persona?" she asked, pointed towards the folder that was tucked under her brother's arm. Persona took out the folder from under his arm and held it in his hand to show her.

"This, my dear little sister, contains information for your job for the next… I don't know how long, but it will be a long time" said Persona. The young girl raised an eyebrow at her older brother before she took the folder from out of his hand.

"This isn't your first job, but it is your first job that _counts_, Mikan Sakura. This job is the key to the rest of your life. It's important. And so is the person" Persona informed Mikan as she opened the folder and flicked through the pages. There were all sorts of information, though all based around one particular person.

"Natsume Hyuuga?" she asked Persona, knowing that he would know what she meant. She looked back at the folder after receiving a nod from her brother. "So, what exactly am I to do with this… _Natsume Hyuuga_?" she asked. In the corner of her eye, she saw Persona raise an eyebrow.

"You've never heard of Natsume Hyuuga?" he asked her. Mikan shook her head in reply.

"Why? Should I?" she asked, confused upon why it is such a shock that she doesn't know who _'Natsume Hyuuga'_ was. She watched as Persona strolled around the basement, where she trains, before answering her question.

"Well, for a normal person- whatever normal may be- would know who he is. But then again… you were always… different" said Persona after he took a seat on the bench. Mikan pouted at what her brother said about her.

"Is that a compliment or an insult?" she demanded as she put her hands on her hips. Persona rolled his eyes.

"Neither" he told her. And before Mikan could talk, Persona continued. "Your job is to protect Natsume Hyuuga, though make sure he doesn't know it and-"

"Why must I keep it a secret from him?" Mikan butted in. Persona rolled his eyes.

"Would you like it if someone told you that they had to protect you?" Persona answered her question with a question. Mikan frowned.

"No, I wouldn't…" she replied. Indeed she wouldn't. She didn't like the idea of someone having to be in danger because of her. "I guess it makes sense then" she added.

"Alright then, Natsume Hyuuga, as you would have seen in the folder, is to inherit the large company which is owned by his family, and there have been many attempts of assassination, though the guy always got out lucky and survived" Persona told Mikan. He continued to fill her in, and Mikan would nod here and there, butt in, asking a few question here and there.

"Okay, so you need to re-read through that folder" Persona told her as he stood up from his seat, pointing towards the folder in Mikan's hand, "thoroughly. Read through every single detail."

"Yes, Sir" she saluted. Persona rolled his eyes. Mikan raise an eyebrow at her brother and said, "You know, if you continue rolling your eyes like that, they will end up rolling into the back of your head."

Persona smirk at what his sister told him. "Yeah, yeah, I'll keep that in mind" he told her as he ruffled her hair. Mikan shrieked at her brother's actions.

"_OI_, I've told you many times already- ._HAIR_!" she exclaimed as she placed both hands on her head, protecting it from her brother. Persona rolled his eyes, despite what Mikan told him a moment ago.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you" he muttered. Persona turned away and headed towards the door. He then stopped mid-pace and looked over his shoulder. Mikan, noticing that her brother stopped walking, looked up from the folder and looked at her brother curiously.

"What is it, Persona?" she asked him as she tucked the folder away under her arm.

"You will be going to school… We are moving to Japan" he told her before quickly closing the door and headed towards the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

Meanwhile, Mikan stood in her spot, frozen. When she finally snapped out of it, her eyes widened.

* * *

><p>Persona was quietly making his cup of coffee with a smirk on his face. Then, mentally, he started a countdown. <em>Five…Four…Three…Two…One…and…<em>

_**BOOM**_ the door was slammed open, revealing a wide eyed brunette. Persona leaned against the kitchen counter as he stirred his cup of coffee with a spoon. After he finished stirring his cup of coffee, he turned and faced Mikan.

"Why, hello, little sister, what brings you here?" he asked her as if he didn't know what she was about to do.

"Cut the crap, Persona" she said as she stormed over to her brother and took the cup of coffee from him and gulped in down.

"And that is why I prepared _two_ cups of coffee" muttered Persona as he turned around and took out another cup of coffee and quickly drank it before his little sister stole it.

"BROTHER, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME WE WERE MOVING TO JAPAN? I DON'T WANT TO! I WANT TO STAY IN AUSTRALIA!" yelled Mikan. Persona raised an eyebrow at her,

"And why _not_?" he asked her. Mikan crossed her arms over her chest.

"Because I don't want to move" she told him.

"Why not?" repeated Persona.

"I don't want to leave-"

"You're home schooled by me, so don't you mention school" Persona butted in. Mikan let out a 'hmph' and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Fine, we'll move to Japan" she agreed. "But I'd prefer to stay here in Australia though" she quickly added.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" muttered Persona. "Start packing. We leave early tomorrow. You also start school the day after" announced Persona. Mikan sweat dropped.

"Tell me _now_, why don't you" she murmured as she made her way towards her room to start packing. Persona watched his little sister's retreating figure as she stomped her way up the stairs to her room. Shaking his head in amusement, he put the two cups in the sink for Mikan to wash later, since he was the one that made the coffee.

"This is the one job that will change your life, dear sister. I will make sure you don't screw up this opportunity of a lifetime. I have trained you to be the best. And therefore, you shall remain the best. I will make sure of it" muttered Persona as he headed over to the couch and decided to watch some TV before going and packing himself.

* * *

><p>"I'm so <em>bored<em>" complained a light blonde haired boy. Nearby, a sandy hair coloured boy stood up and plopped himself next to the spiky blonde haired boy.

"Agreed, there is nothing to do" said the sandy haired boy. On the other side of the room, someone spoke.

"Koko, Kitsuneme, you're always bored" the person said.

"Well, because there's always nothing to do, Mochu!" whined Koko.

"Yeah!" Kitsuneme agreed. Mochu rolled his eyes. There's no use arguing those two. They always have each other's backs.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just keep the complaints to yourself" Mochu told them. Koko and Kitsuneme poked their tongues out at Mochu and blew raspberries at him. Mochu rolled his eyes again before heading towards the couch and switched on the television and watched an action movie. From across the room, Koko and Kitsuneme heard the opening song of the movie and sang along to it as they made their way across the room to watch the movie.

Koko jumped onto the couch, next to Mochu, and took the remote from out of Mochu's hands and turned up the volume as Kitsuneme took a seat on the ground with his back leaning against the couch.

Halfway through the movie, Kitsuneme asked, "Hey, where's Natsume and Ruka?"

Mochu rolled his eyes. "Wow, you ask for them now? They've disappeared for- at _least_- an hour and a half. Seriously dude, you've got issues. You _do_ realise that this is Natsume's house, right?'

"Yes, of course! What kind of friend would I be if I didn't know? Even so, if I did forget, I could have read your mind right there and then and… Ah, never mind" said Koko before turning around to face the TV to continue watching the movie.

A few minutes later, they heard the front door open.

"Ah, hey, Ruka!" Koko and Kitsuneme greeted in union. Ruka greeted them with a nod in reply. Mochu greeted Ruka with a nod, who replied with a nod as well.

"Hey, guys. Have you seen Natsume around? I've been looking for him but I couldn't find him" said Ruka whilst petting the rabbit in his arms. All three boys shook their heads in reply.

"No, we haven't seen him" replied Mochu.

"He's probably out buying books or something" said Koko. Then, as if on cue, they heard the door open again, and Natsume walked in with a pile of books in his hand.

"Wow… how the hell do you do that?" muttered Mochu, amazed by how people always manage to appear minutes after being talked about.

"Well, I couldn't really care less. At least Natsume didn't buy as many books as last time" mentioned Ruka. All four boys shuddered at the memory when Natsume walked through the door and told them to help him carry all the books he had bought during his trip to the book store.

"Yeah, I agree. That guy is so much of a bookworm that it's not even funny" said Kitsuneme. Ruka raised an eyebrow.

"What's so funny about being a bookworm?" questioned Ruka. Koko faced Ruka and merely shrugged in reply before turning back to face the TV. Ruka was about to join the three boys to watch the movie when he heard Natsume speak from stair case, ready to head up to his room.

"OI, bring the rest up to my room" called out Natsume. All four boys groaned.

"Ah, come _on_, Natsume. How much books did you buy _this time_?" whined Koko. Natsume raised an eyebrow at Koko. All heads turned towards Koko, who sweat dropped. Koko heaved a sigh.

"Fine. How _many_ books did you buy this time, O Wise one?" Koko asked, sarcastically bowing.

Natsume shrugged and replied, "Just enough to fill up the back seats of the car." All four boys groaned again as they made their way out to the car.

"Why do you buy so many books, Natsume?" wailed Kitsuneme.

"Because I want to. Now the quicker we finish, the quicker you can go back to that movie you're watching" stated Natsume.

While Natsume made his way up the stairs to go to his room to put the books away, Ruka, Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu made their way towards Natsume's car. As soon as they opened the doors of the back seat, they sweat dropped.

"How is it even _possible_ to buy so many books? Surely there are books that Natsume _doesn't _like!" Koko exclaimed. Beside him, Kitsuneme agreed.

"Yeah, I wonder if there are any books in the book store that Natsume _hasn't_ bought yet" said Kitsuneme. Koko and Kitsuneme thought for a moment before facing each other and saying in union, "Probably not." They both laughed, only to start sulking when they looked back at the amount of books there were in the car. At the entrance of the house, they heard Ruka call out to them.

"_OI_, you carry the rest of them!" he told them before going into the house, followed by Mochu. Koko and Kitsuneme looked from Ruka, to each other, then to the books.

"Wait, WHAT?" they cried.

"Damn it… We should have gone first… now we have to carry most of the books" Koko sulked. He then bent down and piled half the amount of books in his arms and waited for Kitsuneme to pile the rest of the books in his arms before heading off into the house, after carefully closing the car door.

"We should really charge Natsume for making us do all this crap" muttered Koko. Kitsuneme agreed with a grunt.

"Ah well, it should all be better at school tomorrow" said Kitsuneme. Koko suddenly laughed.

"Yep, definitely" agreed Koko before entering Natsume's room and carefully placing the books on the bed. They have learnt from previous experience on what would happen if they are careless with the books and dumped them anywhere.

Natsume was busy placing the books onto the new shelf he had bought a couple of days ago. Ruka, Mochu, Koko and Kitsuneme sweat dropped.

_So that's why he bought another shelf…_ they all thought.

"WELL, we'll be going then. You enjoy your time…uh… reading and stuff" exclaimed Koko before running out of Natsume's room before he asked them to do anything else.

Natsume's only reply was his usual "Hn." Ruka and Mochu headed out the door, not forgetting to close the door behind them as they exited.

When Ruka and Mochu made their way down the stairs, they heard Koko and Kitsuneme whistle. Probably because of what happened in the movie.

"What happened?" asked Mochu as he went back to his seat on the couch, where he was sitting before Natsume called them out.

"Some chick just did this awesome stunt!" exclaimed Kitsuneme as he high fived Koko.

"Seriously? Play it again" said Mochu. Kitsuneme turned around and faced Koko, who was already looking at him with a stupid grin on his face.

"We have no problem with that" Koko and Kitsuneme spoke in union. Koko grabbed the remote and pressed the rewind button.

"OHH! DAYUM" Mochu exclaimed as he raised both hands for Kitsuneme and Koko to high five. Kitsuneme and Koko high fived Mochu enthusiastically.

Ruka smiled and shook his head. He quickly checked the time on the clock that was on the wall above the television.

"Well, I'll be heading off now. See you tomorrow" Ruka announced. Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu bid Ruka goodbye with a nod. Ruka quickly headed upstairs to quickly tell Natsume he was heading off, though he stopped when he realised that Natsume would probably want to read his book in peace, so he headed back down the stairs and told Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu to tell Natsume that he already headed out if Natsume were to ask where he was. The three boys nodded, though still continued to watch the movie. Ruka let out a laugh and headed out the door and headed home.

"Ah… I hope they end up having some sort of fun in their life. They're all bored to tears and movies" muttered Ruka before getting in his car and headed off home.

* * *

><p>"<em>Don't say no, no, no, no-no;<em>

_Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;_

_And we'll go, go, go, go-go._

_If you're ready, like I'm ready._

Mikan danced around the room, singing as she packed up her things, unaware that someone was watching her by the doorway.

_Cause it's a beautiful night,_

_We're looking for something dumb to do._

_Hey baby,_

_I think I wanna marry you_"

Persona smirked and leaned off the door frame. "Thanks, but no thanks. That would just be wrong" he butt in. Mikan spun around and screams.

"SWEET PANCAKES" Mikan yelled when heard her brother. Mikan stomped over to her brother and hit him with the textbook that was currently in her hands.

"Don't do that!" she shouted, hitting him again with the textbook before storming over to her bed to put it in _one_ of her _many_ suitcases. Mikan continued to pack the last of her books before turning around and sitting on the edge of her bed to face her brother.

Persona entered Mikan's room and made his way out to the balcony after beckoning Mikan to follow him. Mikan stood up and followed her brother out to the balcony.

"What is it?" Mikan asked him. Persona crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the passing cars.

"This mission is important" Persona told her.

"I know…you told me" said Mikan, not quite getting the point.

"Don't screw it up" said Persona. Mikan nodded. Persona turned around to face Mikan, arms still crossed.

"Therefore, do not have any distractions. You will be going to the same school as Hyuuga. And as it was said in the folder that I gave to you- many girls easily fall for him" informed Persona. Mikan raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned her back against the balcony railing.

"Do you mean to say that I get pulled in easily?" Mikan asked him, half joking- half serious. Persona rolled his eyes and continued- ignoring Mikan's question.

"Kid, I'll give you a fair warning" said Persona. Persona uncrossed his arms and headed towards the door, back into Mikan's room. "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will be dyed in blood" Persona told her. And with that, he went in and then exited Mikan's room to go and pack his own things.

Mikan stayed where she was, unmoving. After a few minutes, Mikan leaned off the balcony railing and turned around with her eyes closed. Mikan extended her arms out and breathed in the fresh, nightly air, letting the wind play with her hair as it blew. She then opened her eyes and placed her hands on the balcony railing.

"Don't fall in love, eh?" Mikan muttered. "It shouldn't be hard. The guy goes to a co-ed school, doesn't he? The girls probably keep him busy, then" said Mikan. Mikan nodded and walked back into her room. When she walked in, she sweat dropped. _I didn't realise I packed up so much already_ she thought. _The room looks seriously… plain_ she added, looking around. Mikan heaved a sigh and walked over to her closet, to pack the last of her things.

Mikan threw her clothes into her suitcase, not bothered to fold them neatly. She was going to take them out again anyway. When Mikan finished zipping up all her suitcases and moved them all beside her bedroom door. Mikan walked over to her clothes rack stand and grabbed her pyjamas, which she had place earlier, and went into her bathroom to change and get ready for the night.

After brushing her teeth, Mikan lay down on her bed, and snuggled underneath her blankets regardless of the warm air because she always found it awkward to lie in bed and not be covered with a blanket. Mikan grabbed the pillow beside her and hugged it. Within seconds, she was asleep.

A couple of hours later, Persona appeared in Mikan's room and stared at his little sister, who was currently half thrown off the bed. Persona rolled his eyes and fixed his little sister back on the bed properly or else he would never hear the end of her complaints of her pain in the morning when she woke up.

Persona picked Mikan up and carefully placed her back on the bed. He then got the blanket and placed it over her. When he finished, Persona headed towards the door. Placing his hand on the doorknob, Persona looked back to take a final glance at Mikan.

"The moment we set foot in Japan, everything you do will depend on your future, Mikan. Don't mess it up by getting involved with too many people for you to handle" he said before heading out the door, closing it behind him.

Mikan stirred in her sleep and mumbled something.

"I will try my best to make you proud, brother"

* * *

><p>End of chapter<p>

* * *

><p>AN: What did you think of the chapter? I apologise for any spelling, grammar, or what not errors. Drop a review [:

Thank you for reading [:


	3. Getting ready

**Summary: Mikan Sakura, an operative- someone who works by breaking the rules to do the right thing, is given a mission to protect Natsume Hyuuga - one entitled to take over his parent's renowned company. But this mission has one side to it: "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will end up dyed in blood"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

**Chapter One**

Mikan chomped on her baked ricotta with roasted tomatoes and bacon whilst glaring at her older brother who was reading the morning newspaper and drinking his cup of coffee that Mikan had made. Persona put down his newspaper and looked at Mikan.

"What do you want?" he asked her. Mikan narrowed her eyes at her brother.

"I…don't…like…you" she told him in a cautioning tone. Persona rolled his eyes. Mikan threw her food on the plate in front of her and placed her hands on her hips. "Persona, you threw a bucket of water on me. Don't blame me for punching and kicking you. You know better than to wake me up so early and then stay next to the bed to make sure I'm getting off the bed. Better if you went away to hide"

"I don't hide, kid" said Persona. "Plus, I threw water on you as the last resort. Your snoring drained out my voice from waking you up. And you didn't wake up even when I kicked you off the bed. Plus, I woke you up at seven, so don't complain. I could have woken you up at five if I wanted to" added Persona. Mikan huffed and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Fine, I'll give you that one" said Mikan, defeated. Persona nodded and continued to ready his newspaper.

"Go and change we're leaving in fifteen minutes tops" he told her. Mikan didn't bother to reply and just stomped her way up the stairs to her room to change while Persona cleaned up the table.

In less than ten minutes, Mikan came down, wearing an "In Perfect Contrast dress"- an ivory, vintage-inspired, lace overlay dress with a black ribbon belt and a pair of Badgley Mischka, Janni Black satin, peep toe high heels, and trench coat hung over her arm.

"Your taste in clothes always astounds me" said Persona. Mikan rolled her eyes as she made her way over to her brother.

"Oh, please. If it wasn't for that look you gave me before I went upstairs, I would have teleported myself some jeans and a hooded sweatshirt" grumbled Mikan.

"Exactly why I gave you that so-called _look_, then" retorted Persona. He then opened the door and said "Let's get going. Our stuff is already in the car"

Mikan nodded and headed out the door as she swiftly put on her trench coat. Persona followed, closing the door behind him. Mikan turned around to look at the house.

"Are we going to sell the house?" Mikan asked him.

"No, it's staying here, in case we need to move here again" replied Persona. Mikan slowly nodded and made her way into the garage, followed by Persona. After Persona closed the garage door, Mikan opened the car door at the passenger side and got in. When Persona got in, Mikan turned around and asked him, "Are we seriously going to go to Japan by plane?"

Persona turned his head to look at Mikan before getting something out of his pocket to hand it to Mikan. Mikan look the pieces of photo paper from out of her brother's hand and looked at it. It was an image of a house, and sections of inside the house. Mikan looked up at Persona with questioning eyes.

"Is this the house we're going to stay at?" Mikan asked him.

"Well, you'll be the one mainly staying there. I might drop in every now and again, but I'll have my own place at the school" said Persona. Mikan raised an eyebrow and her brother for a moment before letting it drop and turned to look at the house again. The house was a two story house with a garage- most likely where she was going to teleport them later. There was also a lovely garden with lovely green grass. There was also a gate around it. But what she liked most of all, were the balconies. Mikan always loved balconies, especially if it was outside her bedroom. Mikan smiled and looked up at her brother.

"Teleport?" she asked him.

"Go when you're ready" he told her. Mikan nodded and looked at the pictures in her hands. Mikan shuffled through the pictures until she came to the garage. Mikan concentrated and close her eyes, picturing the car inside the garage.

Moments later, she heard the car door open. Mikan opened her eyes to see Persona getting out of the car. Mikan look a deep breath in and opened the car door. Mikan got out of the car and went over to car trunk with her brother to help with take out the suitcases.

After taking Mikan's suitcases to her room, Mikan explored the house. The house was empty, in a good way. The walkway was wide, so she liked it. All the furniture was put in each room already, so all she was to do was to rearrange them if she wanted to. Mikan took off her trench coat and threw it on her bed in her room before heading downstairs to take a look around.

After taking a look around the house, Mikan plopped herself down on the L-shaped couch and turned on the TV, which was already plugged in. A couple of hours later, Persona appeared and told Mikan to turn off the TV because they were going to go to the school. Mikan nodded and turned off the TV.

"So, where's the school?" asked Mikan, peering around.

"About a street or two away" replied Persona. Mikan nodded. She then sweat dropped.

"We're walking, aren't we?" she asked him. Persona smirked and started walking. Mikan stared down at her shoes and inwardly sulked.

"Oh, how I hate you" mumbled Mikan before catching up with her brother. When they reached the school, Mikan checked her watch she see it was already eleven.

'_It only takes just over five or six minutes to get to school. I should be able to survive'_ thought Mikan. Mikan walked through the school hallways, following her brother. He then stopped in front of a big door that said "Principal's office"

Persona turned around to face Mikan before opening the door for her.

"Just talk, write and do what they ask" instructed Persona. "And be nosy and ask annoying stuff if you want" he added. Mikan rolled her eyes and made her way into the office. Mikan entered the office to see a man and a woman standing beside the door.

"Welcome" they greeted her, bowing. Mikan immediately bowed at them as well.

"I'm Ami, and this is Jiro" introduced the woman. Mikan opened her mouth to introduce herself, but Ami had stretched out her arm, signalling towards another door.

"Please follow me to the principal's office" said Ami. Mikan smiled and nodded. Mikan glanced at her brother with an amazed expression. Persona shrugged and followed Ami, followed by Mikan.

When they entered the office there was a man with fair skin, light blue eyes and blonde hair, probably in his early 30s, looking through paperwork. When Ami announced that Mikan had arrived, he looked up from his work and stood up, a smile on his face. Mikan smiled nervously and bowed at him.

"Hello and welcome to Alice Academy" he greeted her. "I'm Kazumi Yukihira, the principal of this school. Please, take seat" he told her, gesturing towards the sofas on Mikan's left as he walked towards them himself.

Mikan nodded and made her way over to the three seater leather sofa while the principal made his way over to the one seater leather sofa.

Ami came in moments later carrying a tray with biscuits and two cups of tea. Principal Yukihira thanked her and she made her way out the door, closing it behind her.

"Why not take a seat, Persona?" asked the Principal.

"I've got work to do" announced Persona and exited the room.

"So, do you like the school so far by looks, Miss Sakura?" asked Principal Yukihira, gesturing Mikan to help herself to the snacks in front of her as he picked up a cup of tea.

Mikan picking up a biscuit and replied, "I like it very much, Mr Yukihira. The school is absolutely lovely. It's very impressive compared to some of the schools I've passed. And I've seen quite a few"

"Why, thank you. We all take pride in this school" said Principal Yukihira, "and call me Kazumi. No need to be formal" he told her.

"Then please address me as Mikan"

"Will do, then" said Kazumi. "Now, is there anything you would like to talk about before we get down to business?"

Mikan picked up her cup of tea. "I think we should get right to business. I would like to ask, this school being a school full of students who own an Alice- or more- aren't you concerned for their safety?" she asked him. "Because regardless of how old one may be, we cannot always take care of ourselves properly and watch out for the danger that surrounds us" she told him.

"Also, what if the students use their gift irresponsibly while outside the school grounds? Because that, as well, always remains in us regardless of age"

Kazumi chuckled, placing down his cup of tea and standing up to walk to his desk. Mikan followed him with her eyes.

"I like the way you think, Mikan. And regardless of them being inside or outside of school grounds, they will always use their Alice to amuse themselves once in a while. But we also warn them about the consequences of misusing their gift" he told Mikan. Kazumi picked up a folder from his desk and walked back to the sofa and took a seat.

"Now, as for their safety, students are taught self-defence, and how to escape danger in the safest and quickest way possible, but they have never been in need to use it, apart from one student in our school, which is-"

"Natsume Hyuuga" Mikan interjected unconsciously. Kazumi nodded. '_So that's why the guy was so lucky to escape many times…'_ thought Mikan.

"Yes. Now, is that all?" he asked her. Mikan nodded.

"Alright then, let's talk about you. I have to say, Mikan, when I read your file, I was really impressed. Your IQ is quite impressive. Persona must be a good teacher" Mikan felt like laughing.

"Uh, yeah…I guess so. But most of the time I go out and buy myself textbooks to learn from. And then anything I don't understand I ask Persona"

"I see, well, it's very impressive. I understand that you didn't go to school for quite a while. The last time you went to school was when you were in…" Kazumi flicked through the many pages in the folder to find the answer.

"I was nine" answered Mikan. Kazumi nodded.

"I see, well, let's talk about a few more things before we talk about you entering this school" said Kazumi.

"Of course" replied Mikan.

* * *

><p>"Dude, what song are you listening to? It's…weird" said Mochu after stealing Koko's earphones from out of his ears.<p>

"This song is not weird! The beat is awesome!" exclaimed Koko.

They were currently having a free period since their teacher was absent, and the boys were taking time on their own.

"Koko, please keep it down. I need to study. I can't fail this science test" said Ruka, who was studying next to Natsume, who was currently reading.

"Alright, Ruka" replied Koko. He then turned around to Mochu, who had snatched his iPod from his grasp. Kitsuneme then joined them after finishing his incomplete homework that was due later in the day. He got a hold of one earphone and put it in his ear.

"I have to admit, mate, it's pretty weird" said Kitsuneme. "What the hell are they saying, anyway?" he asked.

"I have no idea, but it sounds cool" replied Koko, snatching back his iPod from Mochu.

"Well, that's weird" said Mochu. Koko frowned.

"It is not! K-pop is awesome!" he half shouted-half whispered. Kitsuneme and Mochu stared at each other before turning to stare at Koko.

"What?" they asked him in union. Koko clicked his tongue and scrolled through his iPod.

"Here, I'll show you a music video of the many songs I have on my iPod" he said. Mochu and Kitsuneme leaned forward to watch Koko press play on his iPod.

"Woooww" the both said in union as they watched the video clip.

"I know, right?" said Koko dreamily.

At the back of the classroom, Ruka rolled his eyes. '_I swear, it's never quiet with them around'_ he thought. Ruka turned to look at Natsume, who had his head buried in one of the many books he bought yesterday. Ruka almost leaped out of his skin when the trio from the front of the room started to shout with excitement. Seconds later, the excitement turned into panic. Ruka chuckled. Natsume had placed a large fire ball next to them, close enough to make them think he was going to roast them. Then again, Natsume never did hold back on hurting his friends if they bothered him while he was reading.

"We're sorry, Natsume! Forgive us!" the trio pleaded, running around the room trying to run away from the big flame that was following them. Without looking up from his book, Natsume got rid of the flame. Koko, Mochu and Kitsuneme let out a relieved sigh.

"Now, will you please be quiet? Or if you want to go crazy then go outside, but close the door" said Ruka. The three boys nodded and rushed out the door, closing it behind them. '_Wow…that actually went out'_ thought Ruka, sweat dropping. Ruka shrugged, glad that it was now quiet and turned back to his study notes.

* * *

><p>Mikan sipped on her half-finished cup of tea. From the very moment Mikan walked through the door, Mikan knew that Kazumi had been watching her every move. Although he was acting nice, casual and carefree, he was secretly reading her, judging her and trying to see if she was responsible and who she claimed to be- like in the paperwork in the folder in front of him.<p>

"Well, I must say you are a very impressive young woman" said Kazumi.

Kazumi was currently seated behind his desk, with Mikan seated in one of the two seats in front of the desk. Kazumi reached out for a creamy coloured file folder and handed it to Mikan. Mikan accepted it with two hands and placed it in her lap to open it.

"Your timetable is in there, along with a couple of rules that you are to abide" he told her. Kazumi then bent and picked up a cream coloured tote bag with the school emblem in one side. He then stood up, followed by Mikan, and handed the bag over to Mikan.

"In here is your uniform, your sport uniform will be given to you on your first sport class. As for the bag," said Kazumi, gesturing to the bag, "You are to use it to bring your school things, which shouldn't be much, since we supply you with a locker. All the information needed is in the folder I gave you" he told her, placing the bag in his desk. Mikan opened her mouth to say something, but Kazumi bent down to pick up another tote bag.

"And in here, are your books, your school diary, and the key to your locker. Pretty much anything else needed for your classes" he said. Kazumi picked up the other bag and handed the two bags over to Mikan. Mikan accepted them with two hands and thanked him. Before she could move a muscle, he spoke again.

"By the way, how you open your locker…" he began, "insert the key in the key hole, and then, as you might have noticed as you walked towards the office earlier, there is a screen. There, you place your thumb on it. All is ready for you, since we have already activated the locker from the fingerprints you gave us"

Mikan nodded slowly. '_These people sure have a way to spend their money, don't they'_ she thought. Kazumi clasped his hands together.

"Well, I think that's all we have today. Your first day of school will be tomorrow. I hope you have a lovely first day here" he said as they both made their way to the door. Mikan stood opposite of Kazumi as he opened the door.

"Yes, I hope so too. Thank you, Kazumi" she said as she made her way out. Mikan bid Ami and Jiro goodbye and finally exited the office altogether.

Mikan looked left to right before whipping out her mobile phone and dialling in her brother's number, hoping that his phone was on. Mikan let out a relieved sigh when he picked up.

"Hello is this Persona?" she said.

"_Of course it is. It's my phone, Idiot_" answered Persona. Mikan rolled her eyes and started to walk back from the way she came from.

"No need to be rude. Anyway, the meeting's done, and I have to admit, I think I did quite well" she praised herself. She could have sworn her brother rolled his eyes when he heard it.

"_Yeah, whatever__"_ he said.

"Anyway, I'm going home by myself, aren't I" stated Mikan.

"_Yep_" was the only answer she got from her brother before he hung up on her. Mikan stared at the phone in disbelief. '_He is _so_ going to get it_' thought Mikan as she quickly re-dialled his number into her phone. As soon as he picked up, she started to rant.

"Why did you hang up on me?" she shouted. "I cannot believe you hung up on me! I wasn't even finished yet, you mean, unbelievable jerk!" she exclaimed. She didn't even bother to wait for a reply and continued to rant.

"Do you have any idea on how wasteful this school is? Because _I_ sure do, and I think I'm in for a surprise tomorrow when I join the…class…" Mikan's voice trailed off when she saw three boys seated outside the classroom, very focused on an iPod that was in the hands of a light blond haired boy. All three boys looked up her as she walked pass them. Mikan decided to ignore them and continue ranting at her brother through the phone. Only, when she looked her phone screen, she saw that she wasn't connected with her brother anymore.

Mikan whispered a curse and looked around her. She didn't remember how to get out of the school because she was so focused on looking at her feet. She had only looked up and looked around the school when her brother told her to. So now, she needed to find someone to ask. Mikan spun around to see the three boys still staring at her. Mikan walked up to them with a smiled on her face.

"**Hello, I'm…a bit lost. Do you think you could help me out?**" she asked them. All three boys nodded in union. Mikan slowly nodded back, wondering if they understood her. She then face palmed herself when she realised she had asked them in English, since it was an automatic thing. She then asked them in Japanese and they all grinned and nodded, as they jumped onto their feet.

"Of course, where do you need to go?" asked the light blonde haired boy.

"Out" she told him. "I forgot how to get to the front entrance of the school" she told them sheepishly, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"It's ok, we'll take you. Follow us. It's not that far away" he told her. Mikan slowly nodded and followed the three boys who were jumping around in front of her.

"Really?" questioned Mikan. The boys nodded. Mikan frowned and said, "Because it was about a ten to fifteen minute walk from what I remember". The sandy haired boy slowed down his pace to walk alongside her before turned around to walk backwards.

"Oh, well, you probably went the long way" he told her. Mikan turned her head away and glared at the wall. Her brother was _definitely_ going to get it. He knew she hated wearing heels and yet… Mikan snapped out of her thoughts when she suddenly bumped into something. Mikan looked up to see she had bumped into the bald guy. Mikan looked at her surroundings to find that she was already the entrance of the school. Mikan smiled brightly.

"Thank you" she thanked them before jogging off, wanting to get home as soon as possible.

* * *

><p>Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu watched the retreating figure of the pretty girl they happened to meet.<p>

"Dudes, you realise that we didn't even introduce ourselves?" said Kitsuneme. The other two boys leaned their foreheads on the front gate of the school. They were such idiots. They just missed their chance to know the pretty girl.

"Ah, damn it…" muttered Mochu. Koko sulked.

"I felt as if we could have been best friends!" cried Koko. Mochu rolled his eyes.

"Dude, you say that about everyone" he said. Koko stuck out his tongue at Mochu.

"Whatever. Let's get back to class now" said Koko. The other two boys agreed.

When the trio entered the room, Ruka looked up and greeted them with a nod.

"Where did you go? When I went out, I didn't see you guys" said Ruka. The three boys grinned. Ruka raised an eyebrow at them and stood up from his seat and walked in front of his table before sitting on it.

"We happened to meet a girl who needed help…we were ever so nice to help, like the gentlemen we are, of course" boasted Koko. Ruka laughed.

"Alright then, what's her name, then?" he asked the trio. All three of them scratched the back of their heads sheepishly.

"Uhh…" Koko started.

"We kind of forgot to introduce ourselves" the three boys admitted in union. From behind Ruka, they heard someone scoff. All four heads turned to face the person.

"And you say you're gentlemen. You still call yourselves 'gentlemen' after not introducing yourself to someone?" mocked Natsume.

"W-well…" stuttered Kitsuneme, knowing Natsume was waiting for his reply. But fortunately for him, the bell rang for lunch.

"Well, I'd love to answer you, Natsume, but I'm quite hungry" said Kitsuneme. "How about you guys?" he asked Koko and Mochu. All three boys nodded and they all raced out the door. Ruka laughed and turned around to collect his books before heading out the classroom along with Natsume.

"Do you really think they met a girl here?" asked Ruka. Natsume shrugged.

"They might believe so. But they might just be desperate" replied Natsume. Ruka laughed.

"Well, I guess so. Then again, it could have been a new teacher" said Ruka. Again, Natsume shrugged.

"Hn" was all he answered before opening the doors of the cafeteria. Ruka decided to close the topic and went away to collect his lunch while Natsume headed over to their usual table, where Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu were already seated and eating.

When Natsume arrived at the table, the trio was still talking about the girl they met. Natsume rolled his eyes and pulled out his book to start reading. He didn't bother with girls. They were uncontrollable.

"Do you think we'll see her again?" asked Koko. Kitsuneme and Mochu shrugged and looked down at their food.

"We hope so" they both answered in union.

Indeed, dear boys. You will see her again, for sure.

* * *

><p>End of chapter<p>

* * *

><p>AN: What did you think of the chapter? I tried my best to check for any mistakes, but I apologise if there are any spelling, grammar, or what not errors.

Drop a review [:

Thank you for reading [:


	4. Welcome to Alice Academy

**Summary: Mikan Sakura, an operative- someone who works by breaking the rules to do the right thing, is given a mission to protect Natsume Hyuuga - one entitled to take over his parent's renowned company. But this mission has one side to it: "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will end up dyed in blood"**

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter three

Mikan looked at her surroundings as she walked down the hallways to head to her first class. For some reason, the school looked different than it did yesterday. It looked bigger.

Yesterday, Mikan had gone through everything, looked through everything and made sure that she understood everything before getting ready for her TV session.

_Mikan looked through the bag full of uniforms and found, in total, nine white, elegant fitted blouses with full length plackets, single cuff with two buttons, pointed collar and rounded tail ending- three short sleeved, three long sleeved, and three three-quarter sleeved._

_Both of Mikan's eyebrows rose when she continued to look into the bag. She then looked into the bag and there were also, altogether, four skirts- one white and three black. All flat at the front, and pleated at the back. She then pulled out three blazers- two black and one white. Along with the blazers, Mikan found two silk ties, both black. She also found white, knee-high socks, as well as ankle and low-cut socks. Mikan stared the socks._

"_Wow…they even gave me socks" she muttered, placing it on the bed._

_Looking at all the neatly laid out uniform on her bed, Mikan couldn't help but roll her eyes. _'Damn rich bastards' _she thought. She then put the bag away and looked into the other bag and took out all her books. She was glad that all the books already had labels on them so she didn't need to label them herself. She continued to dig into the bag and found her key to her locker. Mikan examined the key before placing it into the small pocket in the bag. She then took out her diary and timetable._

"_The hell… this is a rather… interesting timetable" Mikan murmured. She had five periods every day, except Monday, since there was assembly. On Monday they only have 4 whole lessons and last period was half a lesson._

_Mikan looked through the timetable and memorised all the classes she had for the two weeks, since there was a two week plan. After that, she placed all the books back into the bag so she could put them in her locker tomorrow._

_When she finished, she tried on her uniform. When she read the booklet, it said that she was to wear her white uniform on Monday. On the other days, she was to wear the black uniform. The only uniform piece she was allowed to wear on any other day apart from Monday was her blazer._

_Mikan looked at her reflection in the mirror to see how she looked in the mirror. Mikan sweat dropped._

"_This school isn't very colourful with their uniform, aren't they?" muttered Mikan. She then took off her uniform and started to hang them up in her closet. When she was finished, she started to clean up her room. When she finished that, Mikan changed her clothes and headed downstairs to watch some TV after cooking up something to eat._

Mikan heaved a sigh and made her way to class behind her homeroom teacher, clutching onto the strap of her bag. She was glad she didn't have to deal with students on her first day here. She was told to arrive at school about an hour earlier, so she could meet her homeroom teacher, which was Narumi L. Anjo. At first, she had to admit, she found him out of place, since the way he was dressed was completely different to everyone else she saw in the faculty. Everyone else was dressed, well, either semi-formal or formal. But Mr Anjo was all frills, feathers and bright colours, which she had to admit, terrified her at first. But after chatting with him, he wasn't so bad. He was nice and knew when to be serious- which was probably all she cared about, apart from how good he was at teaching.

Mr Anjo stopped in front of the closed classroom door and turned around to face Mikan with a smile on his face.

"Alright, come in when I call for you" he told her before turning around to open the door, only to be stopped by Mikan.

"Wait, Mr Anjo-"

"Tut, dear one, what did I tell you?" interjected Mr Anjo. Mikan thought for a moment and remembered what the man in front of her had told her before.

"Right, Narumi" she murmured. "Uh, Narumi, how many students are in this class?" she asked him. Narumi grinned.

"Well, you'll have to wait and find out" he told her before slamming the door open and announcing his arrival to the class. Mikan sweat dropped at the sudden silence that enveloped the room as soon as Narumi had entered the room. Mikan took a deep breath in and leaned against the walk, beside the opened doors, waiting to be called in.

* * *

><p>"Good morning my lovely students, how was your evening yesterday?" Narumi asked his students. The only answers he received were mumbles. Narumi grinned and put something in his mind and waited for a fellow student to announce it.<p>

"We have a new student?" exclaimed his fellow mind reading student. This announcement caught everyone attention. Well, apart from the raven haired boy in the corner at the back of the room, but this was no surprise to Narumi.

"Yes, Koko, in deed we do" said Narumi. Koko leaned forward on the table with his arms crossed in front of him, along with Kitsuneme and Mochu.

"So, what's this new student like?" asked Koko. _'And why can't I read his mind anymore?'_ wondered Koko.

"Is he smart?" asked Mochu

"Is he at _least_ better looking that Mochu?" asked Kitsuneme. That got him a smack on the back of the head from Mochu.

"Uh, actually, the student is a-" Narumi was then cut off by the whining of Kitsuneme, complaining about the smack on the back of his head.

"That hurt, you idiot" said Kitsuneme. Mochu rolled his eyes.

"Deal with it. Next time, think before you voice it out" retorted Mochu. Kitsuneme opened his mouth to say something when Narumi interrupted the two boys.

"WELL, why don't we have the student come in and introduce who they are to class" said Narumi. Behind the door, Mikan took a deep breath in. She looked down at her uniform, checking that it was all in place before standing up straight and entering the class looking down at the floor. Mikan heard several gasps as she walked in. Mikan looked up and her eyes widened. Immediately, and unconsciously, Mikan slapped her forehead and turned her body around to exit the room to find her brother. Only, she found herself turning around again walk back to the front of the classroom, deciding to hunt down her brother later.

Mikan touched the end of her ponytail and turned her body to face the class. She glanced at Narumi who gave her an encouraging nod for her to continue. Mikan took a deep breath in and scanned the classroom.

'_What the hell is this? The whole class is filled with boys!'_ Mikan exclaimed in her mind, '_this is absolutely bogus-Especially when Persona didn't warn me about it beforehand. Therefore, more of the reason that I should be allowed to hurt him' _thought Mikan. She then took another deep breath and spoke.

"Good morning" she squeaked out. "Hello, I'm Mikan Sakura. From now on, I'll be part of this class" she spoke, her voice slightly louder. Narumi took a step closer to her and whispered, "Why not talk more about you? Random information is fine. Don't forget to mention your Alice" Mikan nodded at him and turned to face the class.

"Um, my star sign is Capricorn, since my birthday is on the first of January. I, uh, I'm seventeen years old- recently turned seventeen, and I have the, uh…" Mikan stopped talking, which left the class in suspense. '_Crap, what Alice did I plan to tell them that I had?'_ Mikan panicked. When she remembered she quickly said, "And my Alice is nullification"

Narumi smiled and stepped forward. "Well, our new student is female. So that's a first, isn't it?" asked Narumi. The class agreed.

"Well, I need someone to show Mikan around the school-" Narumi stopped talking when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Yes?" he asked Mikan.

"I already know my way around the school. I studied the school map, which was, uh, given yesterday" said Mikan.

A surprised look appeared on his face. "Alright then, what else did you do after you received everything yesterday, Mikan?" he asked her. Mikan thought for a moment.

"Well, I sorted out my uniform, remembered the dress code, my timetable, my teachers, school rules and…" Mikan stopped talking, seeing the amused look on her teacher's face. "Uh, can just know where I'll be seated, please?" she asked him. Narumi nodded and scanned the classroom. After scanning the classroom, Narumi turned around and faced Mikan.

"You know what, why don't you choose your own seat? Because from what I see, there are _many_ vacant seats" said Narumi. Mikan nodded and walked to the middle row of seats, deciding to take the seat by the window, which was also one row away from Hyuuga Natsume's seat. Narumi smiled and turned to the rest of the class.

"Well, it's a free period, students. Bye-bye~" he said before skipping out of the classroom, slamming the doors shut behind him. Mikan's eyes narrowed at the door-the place she last saw her teacher leave. Don't they find it weird to leave a girl in a classroom full of boys? Mikan heaved a sigh and took out a book she was started reading yesterday.

Mikan had read only two lines when she felt someone approach her table. Mikan looked up, seeing a boy with dirty blonde coloured hair and glasses wearing his uniform properly, unlike some of the other students in the class, only without the blazer. He was wearing the white, long-sleeved slim fit shirt which had a patch pocket at the chest with the school crest, and a button down collar with an eight button placket, pointed collar and single cuffs with two buttons, along with a black tie, like hers. The shirt was tucked into charcoal melange coloured, cotton and wool blend trousers, which was held up by a plain black belt.

Mikan closed her book and stood up, smiled at the boy. The boy smiled and introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Yuu Tobita, the class representative. I have the Alice of Illusion. Please call me Yuu. If there are any questions that you ever want to ask, please come and see me" he said as a tint of red appeared on his cheeks. Mikan smiled.

"Thank you, Yuu" said Mikan. Yuu nodded and turned away to make his way back to his table. Mikan also sat down on her chair and opened her book again.

Mikan had barely re-read her two lines when she felt more people approaching her table. Mikan looked up from her book to see the boys that had helped her get out of the school yesterday. Mikan immediately stood up and greeted them.

"Oh, hello" she squeaked out. She then cleared her throat and said, in a clearer voice, "Sorry, um, hi"

The three boys grinned and nodded. They stood in a row in front of her table and introduced themselves starting from the left.

"Hello, I'm Mochiage, but call me Mochu. I have the Telekinesis Alice" Mochu introduced himself, holding out his hand. Mikan shook his hand and smiled at him. She then turned to the next boy, who introduced himself as Kitsuneme, who has the Flying Alice. Mikan then turned to face the last boy.

"Hello! I'm Kokoro Yome. Call me Koko. I have the Mind Reading Alice" he introduced himself. Koko went over to stand next to Mikan and slung him arm over Mikan's shoulders.

"I have a feeling we'll be gooood friends" he exclaimed, grinning at his friends. Mikan laughed and was about to continue joking around when something stopped her.

Just then, everything happened in slow motion. Mikan saw a something flash at the window. Looking at it from the corner of her eyes, she saw someone with a gun. Mikan immediately turned to the rest of the class to warn them.

"EVERYONE, GET DOWN" she yelled. Majority of the students in the class ducked down. Mikan instantly used her Speed Alice to leap over the tables to go to the back of the classroom and push the two boys at the back onto the ground just as she heard shots being fired. All three grunted at the impact of hitting the ground. Mikan stood up, first making sure everyone was down before turning her head to search for the shooter. Mikan activated her Speed Alice to chase the shooter as soon as she jumped out the window.

When Mikan was close enough, she saw that the person's face was hidden by a mask, but Mikan used her X-ray Alice to see through it and saw his face. Mikan smirked. Mikan made sure she deactivated his Alice before she used her teleportation Alice to appear in front of the shooter, stopping him in his tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked him. The man smirked behind his mask and whipped out a gun. Mikan raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" she asked him, leaning onto her right leg and placing her hands on her hip. "You're pointing a gun at a defenceless person?"

The man thought for a moment before lowering his arm. "You're right… we'll do this the fair way-" he said. Only, as soon as he let his guard down, Mikan appeared in front of him and knocked him out. Mikan exhaled deeply and called her Persona before bending down beside the poor guy lying on the ground and shook him, trying to get him to wake up.

As soon as he did, he shot up from the ground, giving Mikan a scare. The man was about to attack her when she stopped him, looking into his eyes. Mikan activated her Mind controlling Alice.

"**Stay**" she told him in a powering voice. The man stopped instantly. "**You will not remember my face**"

"I will not remember your face" the man repeated, emotionless. Mikan thought for a moment on what to say next.

"**You will only remember a purple haired male, with a mask covering his face**"

"I will only remember a purple haired male with a mask covering his face" the man repeated.

"**You will not remember seeing me**" said Mikan, making sure for the last time.

"I will…not remember seeing you" the man repeated. Mikan nodded, satisfied.

"**Sleep**" she ordered. Instantly, the man dropped to the ground. And as if on cue, Persona appeared. Mikan turned around to face him and glared at him. Persona walked past her, unaffected by her glare. When he couldn't take the staring anymore, he heaved a sigh and turned to face her.

"What?"

"You absolute, insolent, cruel, unbelievably and completely evil brother!" yelled Mikan. Persona rolled his eyes behind his mask.

"You _do_ know that I take that as _compliments_, right?" he said. Mikan huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Mikan looked at her surroundings.

"Uh, where are we?" she asked Persona.

"Northern Forest" he answered. "I thought you memorised the map already" he said, raising an eyebrow behind his mask. Mikan narrowed her eyes, knowing her brother had raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, nor my surroundings as I passed them" she retorted. Persona grabbed the man lying on the ground by the collar and started to drag him along the ground.

"Well, then, more training it is. Come here on the weekend at five- in the morning. We'll have to work on that weakness of yours. I can't have someone who doesn't take notice of everything while on the job, _doing_ a job" said Persona before disappearing. Mikan huffed and made her way back to her class.

"It's not that much of a weakness, stupid brother" Mikan mumbled as she slammed her classroom door open, ready to have some quiet so she could read her book. Unfortunately for her, when she entered the room, she was bombarded with questions by Mochu and Kitsuneme.

Koko appeared next to her and pulled her away from the duo.

"Oh, thank you, Koko" Mikan breathed out. Koko grinned.

"No problem. But, uh, we better go check on Ruka and Natsume" said Koko. Mikan nodded, not really caring on what Koko had said. When it had fully processed in her mind, it was too late. Koko had already pulled her over to the small group of boy. A blonde haired boy stood up when he saw her walk over to the table, while the raven haired boy continued to read his book.

"Hello, Miss Sakura. I'm Ruka Nogi. Call me Ruka" the blonde boy introduced himself, smiling as he held out his hand to shake Mikan's hand. Mikan smiled and shook his hand.

"Call me Mikan" she told him. Ruka nodded and smiled. Mikan turned to look at Natsume, who didn't seem at all interested in his new classmate. Then again, he wasn't exactly known to be one to care. Mikan saw Ruka try to secretly nudge Natsume to make him look up.

"Natsume, introduce yourself" whispered Ruka. Ruka turned to smile at Mikan. "I'm sorry for his impoliteness" Ruka apologised.

"No, it's alright. Honestly, he doesn't need to introduce himself" said Mikan. Natsume looked up from his book.

"See? She knows know who I am, Ruka" he stated.

"Who?" asked Mikan, staring at Natsume, who slowly turned his head to look at Mikan.

"Me" answered Natsume.

"Yes, you… What about you?" Mikan questioned. Natsume raised an eyebrow, trying to keep his cool, although he knew that new kid was getting on his nerves. Mikan inwardly smirked.

Ruka cleared his throat, and gave Natsume a sideward glance. Natsume heaved a sigh.

"Natsume Hyuuga" he introduced himself.

"Well, I can't say it's nice to meet you, Hyuuga" Mikan told him honestly. "Having being the first contact we had was me throwing you to the ground" she said. "You know, just for a heads up, next time, when some says anything like 'move out of the way', or 'get down'…" Mikan leaned forward. "They probably mean it" she told him.

"And?" asked Natsume in an 'I-don't-give-a-crap' tone. Mikan leaned closer of their table so their faces were inches apart.

"Next time, get down, so you won't end up having a bruise on your back from being thrown onto the ground" she whispered to him. Just then, the bell rang. Mikan stood up straight and turned to the other boys who seemed to have been holding their breath. Mikan shrugged and walked over to her table to pack up her things to head to her next class, which happened to be Gym.

Natsume glared at Mikan as she made her way out of the room. As soon as she was out the door, Mochu, Koko and Kitsuneme surrounded Natsume with a grin on their faces.

"So, what do you think of her?" Koko questioned Ruka and Natsume, his arms crossed over his chest.

"She seems nice" was all Ruka said as he packed up his things and gathered them into his arms. All heads turned to Natsume, waiting for his reply.

"She's nothing special. Not too good looking, either" said Natsume as he took his feet off the table and back onto the ground.

"Oh, come on. That's because you didn't look at her close enough" said Kitsuneme.

"She was- at the very most- four inches away from my face, Kitsuneme. I think that's fairly closer than needed on the first day of meeting" spoke Natsume as he made his way out of the room to head to their gym class.

"I agree there, Kitsuneme" said Mochu. Kitsuneme turned to glare at Mochu, who held up both hands in the air in surrender.

"Yeah, but, according to the horoscope that I look at when she was introducing herself, you need to get to know them more before you see their true beauty. Plus, their looks develop more as they-"

"So you're saying that she'll be looking sexy in a bikini at 98?" asked Natsume.

"Well, no, but-"

"I think that's enough for now" Ruka butted in. "We should get changed for sport" said Ruka. All agreed and went to change. When they all came out wearing their gym clothes- which consisted of white polo shirts with the school crest and black sports- they found Mikan, already wearing her gym clothes and warming up.

When Mikan heard them come out from the change room, Mikan looked up and smiled at them. Mikan did one final stretch leg stretch before standing up straight to start stretching her arms.

"Hey, you guys sure took your time, didn't you" she said, grinning. Mikan was given her sport uniform as soon as she entered the gym. Her gym clothes consisted of either a short sleeved white polo shirt-or no sleeves- with the school crest of the left breast and black shorts. Mikan decided to go for short sleeved for today's lesson and quickly changed into the clothes.

"Alright, class. After stretching and a quick warm up… I hope you're up for a bit of climbing today" announced their Gym teacher- Mr Misaki. Mikan heard the guys in her class groan. Mikan grinned.

"So, who's ready and wants to go first?" he asked the class. No one stepped forward. Mikan turned her head to look at the guys beside her and raised an eyebrow at them. They guys took a step back. Mikan almost laughed. Mikan looked up at the ceiling, seeing that it was pretty high up. Shaking her head, Mikan took a step forward and raised her hand. Mr Misaki raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" asked Mr Misaki. "Come on, guys" he joked. Mikan's eyes narrowed.

"Well, at least I'm up for it. You should be more supportive for your student, Sir" said Mikan. The gym teacher looked at her for along moment before nodding.

"Yes, you're right. I apologise. Now, ready when you're ready, let's see if you can climb up that thing before the rest of these guys down here finish running ten laps of the gym" he said. The rest of the class groaned. Mikan threw her head back and laughed.

"Make it five, Sir" she started to bargain with him.

"Nine" said Mr Misaki.

"Six"

"Eight"

"Seven"

"Deal" he finally said after a moment of thinking. "But it could have been five. I'm up for a challenge" said Mikan. Her teacher chuckled.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you'll climb the robe pretty fast, but the boys need their working out, too" said Mr Misaki. Mikan laughed and got ready to climb the rope. "Alright, class" he called out. "Line up in a straight line" he ordered. The boys did as told, including Natsume. Mr Misaki set his whistle in front of his mouth.

"Alright, ready?" he asked everyone, mainly waiting for Mikan's answer. Mikan nodded and flexed her fingers before getting a hold of the rope. "Alright… Ready, set…" Mr Misaki blew the whistle. Mikan started to climb the rope. Mr Misaki watched Mikan. She was currently taking her time, and the boys were starting on their fourth lap. Well, all of them but Natsume. He was on his fifth lap. But as she got half way up the rope, her pace got quicker. And soon, she had reached the top and started to ring the bell with great enthusiasm. Everyone stopped and clapped.

"So, uh, Mikan, how are you going to get down?" shouted Koko. Mikan looked around.

"Don't I just climb down?" asked Mikan as she started to climb down. Everyone sweat dropped.

"What are you doing, Mikan? I'm sure Mochu could just levitate you down…" asked Ruka.

"Really?" asked Mikan. Mikan turned slightly to look at Mochu before asking, "Oh, well… are you okay with that, Mochu?"

"No problem!" shouted Mochu, making sure she could hear him loud and clear. Kitsuneme and Koko rolled their eyes and hit Mochu on the back of the head. Koko looked back up at Mikan.

"Right… but…WHOA!" shouted Koko as Mikan started to float in the air. Mochu carefully levitated Mikan down. All the guys in the class watched, ready to catch Mikan if she fell. Mochu levitated Mikan down into his arms, so he was carrying her bridal style. Mikan looked at him and smiled at him.

"Thanks" she said. Mochu grinned.

"No problem" he said. Kitsuneme and Koko rolled their eyes and approached Mochu. Koko carried Mikan out of Mochu's arms and settled her onto the ground while Kitsuneme put Mochu in a headlock.

"You sneaky bastard" said Kitsuneme as he started to smack Mochu's head.

"Alright, alright, I give!" shouted Mochu. "Dude, stop it. I'm losing brain cells. A lot of them"

Mikan threw her head back and laughed. "Come on, guys. We've got laps to do!" she shouted as she started to run around the gym. Soon, she was followed by the rest of the class. Mr Misaki scratched the back of his head in amazement. Usually, his class wouldn't do what he told them to do. But most of all, he was even amazed that Natsume Hyuuga had _actually_ attended class.

'_Maybe this girl will change a lot around here_' thought Mr Misaki as he urged the class to go faster.

XXX

Mikan came out of her English classroom, after the bell rang, with her arms up in the air, stretching after being seated for so long. The bell had just rung for lunch, and she was starving. Mikan spun around and ducked when she sensed the 'Ultimate Annoying Trio'- as Mr Misaki had told her when the class was watching Kitsuneme, Koko and Mochu muck around.

"Whoa, how did you know…?" asked Koko, who had tried to tackle her.

"I have a sense for people who attempt rape" Mikan joked as she turned around to head to her locker to put her things away before going to the cafeteria.

"Wait, where are you going? The food's _this_ way" said Koko, pointing towards the opposite direction to where Mikan was heading. Mikan laughed.

"I'm going to my locker" she explained. Koko grinned and jogged towards her.

"I'll go with you, then" he said. Mikan smiled and thanked him.

Koko turned around the face the rest of the group and told them to go ahead first and then he and Mikan would catch up later.

Mikan and Koko headed towards Mikan's locker, filling the crowded hallways with their laughter.

"And then, he- he-" Koko could barely talk from all the laughter. Mikan laughed at Koko's difficulty to talk.

"Let me guess, he ended up bumping into something?" Mikan guessed. Koko fell on the ground laughing, nodding since he could barely talk because of recalling the memory. Mikan shook her head in amusement and turned to her locker to open it. Mikan quickly put her books away and slammed her locker shut. She turned around and helped the struggling Koko back onto his feet.

"Come on, let's go" she told Koko when he was finally back on his feet. "I'm starving" she said as she grabbed Koko's arm started to jog towards the cafeteria. Koko stumbled a bit before finally picking up his feet and started to jog along with her.

As soon as Mikan entered the cafeteria, her jaw slightly dropped. Next to her, Koko smirked and placed his hand under Mikan's jaw and slapped it upwards, closing her jaw. Mikan rubbed her jaw and glared at Koko for a split second before looking back at the now-silent cafeteria.

'_It's like a dream come true'_ thought Mikan. _'It's like my own personal heaven'_ she added. Honestly, being surrounded by good looking guys **in suits**, Mikan couldn't help herself.

"I think… I just wet myself" she whispered to Koko. Koko grimaced.

"Please don't say that. It's disturbing" he told her. Mikan laughed, followed by Koko. Koko then swung his arm over her shoulders and shouted to everyone in the cafeteria, "Well, everyone, this is Mikan Sakura- A new addition to our school. Make her feel welcome!"

Mikan blushed as some of the guys started to stand up from their seats to come and greet her. Koko took his arm off Mikan's shoulders and smirked at her. He then leaned in to whisper into Mikan's ear.

"This is one hell of a first day for you, isn't it?" he asked her.

"Obviously" Mikan whispered back.

"Yes, with all the…jumping out the window and all tha-"

"Yes, _obviously_" hissed Mikan, glancing at Koko. She then turned to smile at the people approaching her. And before they reached her, Mikan leaned closer to Koko and whispered, "Honestly, Koko. I was joking before, but I think I will honestly wet myself soon". Koko's smirked widened- if it were possible. He then said one final thing before going away to grab some food, leaving Mikan alone to deal with the crowd.

"Welcome to your first day at Alice Academy"

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><p>End of chapter<p>

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><p>AN: Thank you for reading this chapter (:

* * *

><p>BTW, question: Do you prefer chapters to have a...title? Like, 'The Beginning of Mysteries', or just leave it like 'Chapter _'?<p>

Let me know(:


	5. Finally meeting

**Summary: Mikan Sakura, an operative- someone who works by breaking the rules to do the right thing, is given a mission to protect Natsume Hyuuga - one entitled to take over his parent's renowned company. But this mission has one side to it: "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will end up dyed in blood"**

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter four

Her fourth day of school and Mikan already wished that she could have a long holiday. Mikan made her way to her locker to collect all her things for the weekend and all her books. Mikan remembered being pulled aside by the 'Ultimate Annoying Trio' after her final period on her last day of school, saying that she should sign up for after school classes.

"_Alright, I expect this to be completed by the next time I see you. If not, there will be consequences" threatened Mikan's math teacher- Mr Jinno, as soon as the bell rang._

"_Yes, Sir" responded the class- well, most of the class- as they started to stand up and pack up their things._

_Mikan quickly gathered all her stuff in her arms and hurried out of the room to not make, that boy who were waiting by the door for her to exit first, to wait so they didn't have to wait too long for her to get her ass out the door._

"_Hey, Mikan, wait up!"_

_Mikan turned around when she heard her name being called out._

"_Ah, Kitsuneme, Mochu, what's up?" she asked them as she started to head to her locker._

"_Not much…we were wondering…what you're doing now that school's finished?" asked Mochu._

"_I'm just going to go to my locker" replied Mikan. "Why?" she asked him._

"_No, not, like, now… I mean now as in… after you go to your locker and all that" he said._

"_Oh…Um, go home?" answered Mikan, unsure of what answer she was meant say. Mochu and Koko chuckled. "Why?" she asked again._

"_Well, we were wondering if you've signed up for an after school activity yet" said Koko. Mikan stared at him._

"_What?" she finally asked after a minute. _

"_Well, pretty much everyone in the school participates in an after school activity, club or class" said Kitsuneme. Mikan slowly nodded._

"_Ohhh, right" Mikan remembered. "So, what-" Mikan was cut off by Kitsuneme, who already knew what she was going to ask._

"_There are lots to choose from. Here, I still have the paper" said Kitsuneme, rummaging through his stuff. He then got out a double-sided piece of paper and handed it to Mikan._

_Mikan scanned through the paper and handed the paper back to Kitsuneme._

"_So, what are you choosing?" asked Koko eagerly. Mikan thought for a moment. She had to be in the same class as Natsume, who was in the entertainment class, as well as business._

"_Business and Entertainment" answered Mikan. Koko grinned._

"_Welcome to the club!" he exclaimed as he slung his arms over her shoulders. "Come on, let's get you signed up" he told her. Mikan laughed and nodded._

_After they signed Mikan up and they went through a few things, they headed straight to class. Mikan walked into the classroom to see... pretty much her usual class seated in front of her. Mikan turned to the front of the class and saw Mr Narumi. Mikan sweat dropped._

'He is absolutely everywhere'_ thought Mikan. Narumi smiled at her and told her to come in._

"_Mikan, this time you'll have to have a partner. I was told a moment ago that you would be joining the class" said Narumi. Mikan nodded slowly. "Your entertainment class and business class partner will be the same" he added. Mikan nodded again._

"_Alright, then… who will my partner be?" asked Mikan. Narumi looked at the class._

"_Natsume will be your partner. Go stand next to him, Mikan" said Narumi. Mikan nodded and made her way over to Natsume._

"_Well, while you settle in, I need to go to the office and collect a few things. So, behave my little ones" Narumi told them as he headed out the door. Mikan sweat dropped at the sight._

_Koko appeared next to Mikan and grinned. "Are you wondering about it?"_

"_Wondering about what?" asked Mikan._

"_I don't know" admitted Koko. "I can't read your mind because of your Alice" he told her, pouting. Mikan poked her tongue out at him. Koko poked his tongue at her and blew a raspberry._

"_Ew, your spit's going all over me!" cried Mikan, wiping her face. Koko smirked and patted her head. Mikan swat his hand away immediately. Just then Narumi skipped through the door with a hand full of paperwork and booklets._

"_Alright class, let's get to work!" he announced as he handed out the booklets in his hands. Mikan flicked through the pages filled with typed up words, realising that is was a script. Mikan looked up at her teacher. "You first task is acting. I have handed each pair a script- One for each person. You are to perform it in three weeks" he told them. "For now, I'll leave you all to it. I'll be at my desk if you need anything" he added. And with that, he left and the class got busy._

"Mikan, wait up!" someone called out. Already knowing who it was, Mikan turned around, though continued walking.

"Hello, Ruka" she greeted him as she turned back around when Ruka walked alongside her. Ruka greeted her back. "What can I do for you?" she asked him. Ruka stopped walking and turned to face her. Mikan followed suit.

"Well, first off, how about joining us for dinner?" asked Ruka. Mikan cocked her head the side.

"Why? You barely know me" she said. Ruka smiled and proceeded walking, along with Mikan.

"That's the point. I was hoping that you would join for dinner so then we could know you more" said Ruka, smiling the most charming smile Mikan had ever seen in her life. Mikan smiled in return.

"Wait, _we_?" she asked Ruka. He nodded.

"Yes" he replied. "The boys, the main guys: Koko, Kitsuneme, Mochu, me and Natsume" he told her. At the sound of Natsume's name, Mikan ears perked up.

"Alright then" she told him, agreeing to the dinner offer. Ruka's smile widened.

"Thank you" he thanked her.

"The pleasure's all mine" Mikan told him, her smile also widening.

When they reached front gate of the school, Ruka turned to face Mikan.

"Are you walking home?" he asked her. Mikan nodded. Ruka frowned.

"You shouldn't frown. You'll get wrinkles" she told him. Ruka laughed.

"We'll get wrinkles either way: frowning or smiling, so who cares. As long as I get to enjoy myself before 'business' and 'serious' time comes along" he told her. Mikan grinned. "But anyway, I can't allow you to walk home. Why don't I drive you home?" he offered. Mikan shook her head.

"Honestly, it would only be a burden. Plus, my house isn't so far away. Just cross the road then turn left on the next crossing" said Mikan. Ruka frowned, still not convinced. He then tapped on the passenger window of the car at the front of the school gate and waited till it rolled down before telling his driver the directions, to the street, to drive ahead. Mikan watched the driver drive away, mouth agape. Ruka placed his hand under Mikan's chin and gently shut her mouth.

"You're not serious, are you?" she asked him. Ruka started to walk, knowing Mikan would follow him. And just as he assumed, Mikan followed him, having difficulty catching up with his long strides. Mikan had always considered herself tall around other people, but now, she felt unbelievably short around the people in her class and school. _'That's expected of people who will handle big businesses, I guess'_ thought Mikan. _'Not to mention being blessed with wonder genes from the parents'_

"I need the exercise anyway" said Ruka. Mikan stopped walking. Ruka also stopped walking, surprised that Mikan had stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" he asked her. Mikan didn't answer. Instead, she threw her head back and started to laugh. Ruka stared at her, sweat dropping. When Mikan calmed down, he asked her if she was alright. Mikan waved a dismissive hand.

"I'm fine" she told him. "I just find it hard to believe that you would need more exercise than you already do" she said as she started to walk again. Ruka followed her, though continued to stare at Mikan, confused.

"How do you know how much I exercise?" asked Ruka. Mikan tensed up for a second before relaxing herself.

"Just the way you look, and it would be obvious. People want good looking people to represent their business. Especially if it's a family one" Mikan told him quickly. Ruka thought for a moment.

"I guess you're right" he agreed after a moment. A couple of minutes later, they reached Mikan's house. Mikan took out her key and opened the door before taking a step in. Mikan turned around and face Ruka, who was at the doorstep.

"Thank you for walking me home" she said quietly. Ruka smiled.

"No problem" he told her. "It was nice" he added. Mikan agreed.

"Would you like to come in?" Mikan asked him when Ruka stuffed his hands into his pockets and started to look around awkwardly.

"Oh, no thank you. I'll get going now. I need to get ready" he told her. Mikan nodded.

"Well, I'll have a car pick you up at about…half past five, alright?" said Ruka. Mikan nodded.

"Wait, Ruka. What should I wear?" asked Mikan. Ruka thought for a moment.

"I think a fitted dress should do. The guys will probably wear something like the school uniform" answered Ruka. Mikan nodded again.

"Thank you" she said. "Bye" she told him, preparing to close the door.

"Bye" said Ruka. And before Mikan fully closed the door, Ruka quickly shouted, "By the way, thanks for the compliment before!"

Mikan closed the door with a big smile on her face. Mikan threw her bag on the couch before she loosened her tie. Mikan walked over to the fridge to grab a drink.

"Hello, Persona" she greeted him before taking a sip from a water bottle. Persona didn't bother greeting his little sister. Instead, he said, "Make sure you wear something appropriate. You will meet the people who hired you today" he told her. "Give a good impression or else I will make your life a living hell for a week" he threatened before disappearing out the back door. Mikan shuddered.

"I'll never catch a break" she muttered as she slammed her water bottle on the kitchen counter. "I'll just have to make one, then" she whispered as she stomped up the stairs to prepare her outfit.

Mikan entered her room and walked over to her walk-in closet. Mikan threw open the door and marched inside, making her way over the section where all her dresses were.

"The boys will be wearing something like the school uniform…" muttered Mikan. "So it would be quite formal, but then thinking of the way the boys wear their uniform…" Mikan continued. She then quickly took a dress of hanger and went out of her closet. Mikan placed her dress of the bed carefully and went back into the closet to pick out a pair of shoes and a purse.

After that, Mikan headed back down stairs again to do a bit of exercise, since it was only half past three because there were no extra classes held on Fridays.

Mikan made her way down to the garage and then went down a flight of stairs into the large basement and started to train. Persona had shown her the basement when they first arrived in Japan. Mikan started to warm up. After ten minutes, Mikan looked back at the clock and pumped her fist in the air.

"Alright, let's get it started" Mikan told herself as she stretching her arms out, as if ready for a fight.

After an hour, Mikan checked the time and decided to stop training and headed to the kitchen to take a drink from her water bottle.

When she finally finished, Mikan then made her way upstairs, taking every second step, to the bathroom to take a shower, aware that she only had about half an hour to get ready.

About ten minutes later, Mikan came out with a bathrobe wrapped around her and her hair still slightly damp. Mikan dried her hair one final time with the towel before throwing it on her bed. Mikan walked over to the dress on the bed and put it on. After that, she started run her fingers through her hair a couple of times before styling her hair. When she was done, she walked over to her mirror as she put on her glasses.

Mikan was wearing a black polka dot, strapless, silk chiffon dress featuring a structured, boned bodice, zip fastening to the back and a ruffle trim to neckline and at the waist. She also had her hair in messy rough side-swept tousled waves, which she decided to tie in a low, side pony tail afterwards. She then put on her red classic leather court shoes which had a 4.5 inch heel height and a 0.5 platform. The heels were rounded point toes, and a comfortable concealed platform with stiletto heel. They were probably Mikan's favourite shoes. Then, as if on time, the doorbell rang.

Mikan quickly grabbed her red purse and walked over to the room across hers and poked her head out the window to see a man waiting at her door step.

"Please, wait a moment!" she shouted. The man looked up, slightly startled. But he quickly hid it and smiled, nodding. Mikan smiled and jogged out of the room after slamming the window shut. Mikan grabbed a black hair tie and tied her hair up in a low, side pony tail, like she usually did. Only this time, it had style. Mikan check herself in the mirror one last time. Mikan smiled, satisfied. She looked casual, her hair looking as if it wasn't too fixed up- which it wasn't- and she didn't look like a tramp either. Mikan quickly headed out the door, grabbing a coat along the way and slammed her bedroom door shut.

Mikan grabbed the keys on the table near the door and popped it in her bag before opening the door.

"Good evening" she greeted the man, remembering to bow. The man looked like he was in his mid-40s. The man smiled at her.

"Good evening, Miss Sakura" he greeted, taking off his hat and bowing. "My name is Yama Yori. I am here to escort you to the Hyuuga house" he told her. Mikan nodded. "Please follow me" he said, stepping aside, signalling towards the limo. Mikan nodded again and silently closed the door before making her way over to the limo as she slid on her coat.

Mikan was about to open the door herself when the driver stopped her.

"Please, let me do my job" he told her, smiling. Mikan smiled and nodded. Mr Yama opened the door for her and waited for her to get in.

"Thank you, Mr Yama" said Mikan as she slipped into the car. Mr Yama smiled and said, "Please call me Yori, Miss Sakura"

"Alright then" answered Mikan. Yori nodded and prepared to close the door when Mikan held out a hand, stopping him.

"What is it, Miss Sakura?" he asked her.

"I'll call you Yori if you call me by Mikan" said Mikan, grinning. Yori grinned and nodded.

"Will do, Mikan" he said before finally closing the door and making his way over to the driver's seat.

"Are you ready, Mikan?" he asked her as he put on his seatbelt.

"Yes" answered Mikan when she got comfy.

"Alright then, let's go" he announced and drove off.

* * *

><p>"So, what time she be arriving here again?" asked Koko who was eager to meet Mikan <em>not<em> in her school uniform and dressed up.

"Soon, alright, Koko?" grunted Mochu who was getting annoyed of Koko's constant pestering. Mochu turned to Ruka and hissed quietly, "Yeah, when is she going to be here? I'm about the throw that idiot down on the ground"

Ruka sighed. No one is ever patient anymore. Just then, the doorbell rang and all heads turned towards the door.

"I'LL GET IT!" yelled Koko as he leaped off the couch and rushed towards the door. Mochu, Kitsuneme and Ruka followed him. Koko swung open the door and froze.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You have the wrong house" said Koko, slightly disappointed that it wasn't Mikan. Mochu stepped forward and hit Koko on the back of the head.

"You idiot, that's Mikan!" exclaimed Mochu. Koko rubbed his head, Mochu's words still not processed fully into his head. When they did, Koko's eyes widened.

"WAIT, WHAT?" exclaimed Koko. Koko stepped forward and stood in front of Mikan and leaned down. Mikan leaned back, startled.

"What are you doing?" asked Mikan. "Are you alright?" she asked him, worried as she put her hand on Koko's forehead to check if he had a temperature.

"Well, what do you know, it _is_ Mikan!" claimed Koko. The all rolled their eyes, including Mikan. Mikan playfully hit him on the head.

"Of course it is, silly" she told him. Koko stared at Mikan, as if still making sure that it was Mikan. Ruka face palmed himself and pushed Koko aside.

"Come in, Mikan. Sorry, these guys have _no_ manners whatsoever. Leaving a girl _outside_ in a rather _cold_ night" said Ruka, glancing at Koko. Mikan laughed.

"It's alright, Ruka. I understand. I look different" she said as she walked into the house. Mikan looked at her surroundings.

"This place is beautiful" stated Mikan, in awe. Ruka chuckled.

"Yeah, the place does that to you when you first step into it" said Ruka. He then gestured towards her and said, "Here, give me your coat and take a seat"

Mikan nodded and took off her coat, revealing her strapless, black, polka dot, fitted dress that stopped halfway down her thighs. Kitsuneme whistled. Koko and Mochu slapped him on the back of the head at the same time.

"Oh come on, I know I'm the only one impressed" complained Kitsuneme.

"Yes, but we don't show it so rudely" hushed Ruka, who was brought up to respect everyone in a proper manner. Not to mention good first impressions.

"Sorry about that, Mikan" Ruka apologised on behalf of Kitsuneme. Mikan waved a dismissive hand.

"It's alright, Ruka. It's not my first time…" Mikan stopped. "Never mind" she told them as she went to take a seat on the couch, followed by the rest of the boys.

"So, where's the ultra-arrogant one?" asked Mikan, referring to Natsume. "No, wait, let me guess, he's reading" said Mikan. Ruka, along with the three other boys chuckled, nodding.

"But, putting him aside," said Kitsuneme, "since when did you wear glasses?" asked Kitsuneme.

"Um, quite a while ago, I think. I forgot" Mikan answered honestly.

"There's cute" commented Koko. He then added, "On you"

Mikan laughed and thanked him. She then leaned over to Ruka and said, "You said that you and the boys 'will probably wear something _like_ the school uniform' you didn't tell me they would be actually wearing it"

Ruka sheepishly grinned. "Sorry, Mikan" he apologised. "They forced me to" he added. Mikan raised an eyebrow and looked over at the three other boys.

"Really, now?" asked Mikan, amused. All boys sheepishly scratched the back of their necks.

"Well…" Koko started off. He then turned to Kitsuneme and Mochu. "You got anything?" he asked them. All went quiet. Just then, they heard someone heading down the stairs. All heads turned around to see a girl with shoulder length raven hair and crimson eyes. Mikan stood up and walked over to her.

"Hello, I'm Mikan Sakura, a classmate of your brother's" Mikan introduced herself. The girl smiled.

"Hello, I'm Aoi Hyuuga" she introduced herself. Mikan smiled. She had already known who Aoi was, but of course, she had to pretend _not_ to know.

Just then, Natsume came down as well, still dressed in his school uniform. Mikan looked back at the boys on the couch and gave them a 'seriously?' look. She then turned back around to see Natsume staring at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Polka dots" was all he said before walking past her to head over to the couch. Mikan glared at the space where he was before until she felt someone enter the room. Mikan turned around to see two people- Natsume and Aoi's parents. They stared at each other until Mikan walked over to them and bowed as she started introducing herself.

"Hello, I'm Mikan Sakura, classmate of your son's"

"I'm Kaoru Hyuuga, and this is my husband" said Mrs Hyuuga. She was wearing a tailored pencil dress, featuring a round neckline with a notch design to front, panelled fitted top, structured shoulders with a gathered detail, zip closure to front with a curved yoke, pencil style skirt and a centre vent to reverse hem, her hair up in a neat bun with a few hair strand on the sides of her face. She looked dressed up, as if ready to leave to work at any moment. The same with Mr Hyuuga, beside her, who was also all dressed up in business clothes. All that was missing for him, was his jacket.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Hyuuga" said Mikan, smiling. Mrs Hyuuga smiled.

"Um, why don't you all go into the kitchen and start bringing in the food?" said Mrs Hyuuga. All the boys grumbled, but headed for the kitchen anyway. Mrs Hyuuga turned to Mikan with a serious look on her face.

"So, are you the one?" she asked Mikan.

"Yes I am" answered Mikan.

"Glad to finally meet you" said Mrs Hyuuga. "Let's talk a bit more, though"

* * *

><p>End of Chapter<p>

* * *

><p>AN: Thank you for reading. What did you think of the chapter? Drop a review(:


	6. New Housemates

**Summary: Mikan Sakura, an operative- someone who works by breaking the rules to do the right thing, is given a mission to protect Natsume Hyuuga - one entitled to take over his parent's renowned company. But this mission has one side to it: "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will end up dyed in blood"**

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter five

"But… we just wanted to see you in something different from the school uniform"

"You could have just asked"

"Well, I- we… well, we just wanted to see you in, uh, prettier clothes…?"

"So you're saying the clothes I wore when you first saw me were 'ugly'?" Mikan asked Koko, with an eyebrow raised.

"W-w-well, no, but, well…" Koko stopped talking and ate his food. "Wow, this is- this is fantastic, I must say, don't you all agree?" said Koko, hoping to change the topic. All laughed and shook their heads.

"So, Mikan, Kaoru, what did you talk about before?" asked Kitsuneme. Mrs Hyuuga had told everyone to call her by her name, apart from her children, of course.

"Nothing you need to know, Kitsuneme. And no one else ask that again" said Kaoru, giving them all a glance.

"Yes, Ma'am" they all said in union. Mikan glanced at Kaoru in the corner of her eye to see Kaoru looking at her as well. They both smiled at each other.

"_I wouldn't have thought it would be of someone so young" said Mrs Hyuuga honestly._

"_Well, Mrs Hyuuga, I can assure you that I was taught by the best and-"_

"_First off," Mrs Hyuuga butted in, "call me Kaoru" she said, putting up her index finger. She then put up a second finger, "second of all, I said I never expected you to be so young. I didn't say I doubted you" she then out up a third finger, "last of all…please look after my son" she said quietly. Mikan smiled and patted Kaoru's hand._

"_Don't worry about him. Just make sure that he tones down the rudeness or else I might slap him" Mikan said honestly. Kaoru threw her head back and laughed._

"_I like you already. Do you think I can get you to teach the boy to be more of a gentleman as a bonus?" Kaoru asked jokingly. Mikan laughed._

"_Sure, why not" she replied. When the laughter dies down, Kaoru looked back at Mikan, a serious look on her face._

"_Please, take care of him. There have been too many attempts that I think I've lost count. Not to mention the ones that he narrowly missed" she said._

"_Don't worry, Kaoru, I will protect him with all that I've got" Mikan promised her. Kaoru nodded._

"_I put all my trust in you" she said. Mikan smiled._

"_Good to know" replied Mikan. Just then, Natsume came in._

"_Dinner's ready, by the way. That is, if you're going to join us at all" he said before disappearing into the dining room. Mikan looked back at Kaoru._

"_Sure" Mikan agreed. "Unless there is anything else you would like to add?" Kaoru shook her head and patted Mikan's knee before standing up._

"_I'm done. Let's go" said Kaoru. Mikan grinned and stood up._

"_By the way, I was serious about the slapping" said Mikan. Kaoru gave her a 'sure hope so' look._

"_You have my blessing. Go for it when you need to" she said._

Ruka cleared his throat and stood up. "It seems like everyone is done with dinner now, so, I'll bring the dishes-"

"I'll help you, Ruka" said Mikan, smiling as she stood up.

"You don't need to, Mikan" said Ruka. Mikan shook her head and started to collect the dishes on her side of the table.

"It's alright, Ruka" she replied. Ruka smiled and started to collect the dishes on his side of the table. Kaoru cleared her throat, catching their attention.

"Ruka, hand the dishes over to Natsume and sit down, Natsume, stand up" she ordered. Ruka hesitated, but handed the dishes over to Natsume and sat down. Mikan grinned at Kaoru, who winked at her. Mikan chuckled and followed Natsume into the kitchen.

"Wow…" uttered Mikan as she stepped into the kitchen. "This place is absolutely _huge_" she exclaimed as she placed the dishes into to the sink. "Well, you know, for kitchen, that is" she added, looking over at Natsume.

"Whatever, Polka Dots" grumbled Natsume. Mikan raised an eyebrow at him. She then looked down at her dress and heaved a sigh.

"You're going to start calling me that from now on, aren't you?" assumed Mikan. Natsume smirked.

"Right on the _dot_, Polka dot" answered Natsume before turning around to walk back to the dining room. Mikan followed him and smiled at the two maids that were fixing up desert as she passed them.

"You should try to be more polite" said Mikan. Natsume shrugged in reply. Mikan heaved another sigh. _'It's not going to be easy fixing this guy's attitude'_ thought Mikan.

* * *

><p>After they finished eating, Mr Hyuuga had received a call from his work place and had already headed out, leaving Kaoru, Mikan, Natsume, Aoi, Kitsuneme, Koko, Mochu and Ruka.<p>

"You know, it's getting late, I think I should head home now" announced Mikan, lifting herself off the couch.

"Nonsense, it's the end of the week, no school tomorrow. You can stay in our guest room" said Kaoru. Mikan smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, but, I have things to do tomorrow" said Mikan. Kaoru frowned. "Don't worry about them, I'll be back before anything happens" said Mikan. Kaoru nodded.

"Alright then, but, I forgot to ask" said Kaoru, "who do you live with?" she asked.

"Well…" began Mikan, wondering how to answer the question, "I'm sort of living by myself-"

"Then you are to stay here" Kaoru said instantly.

"No, no, I can't"

"Well, you are definitely _not_ going to live _alone_" demanded Kaoru, frowning.

'_Oh boy'_ thought Mikan.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry" Mikan apologised, her head down. "You didn't have to agree, you know. I'm perfectly fine living by myself" she said. No answer. Mikan scratched the back of her head.<p>

"Um…" was all she could add.

"It's alright, Mikan" the person next to her reassured.

"Are you sure, Koko?" she asked him. "Because you don't need to stay…"

"Are you trying to tell me you don't like me here?" asked Koko, feigning hurt. Mikan laughed.

"No, no, no" she said. "Never mind"

"You know, you have a really nice house" said Koko. Mikan thanked him.

"You want a drink?" she asked him as she headed for the kitchen.

"Water would be nice, thanks" said Koko. He then picked up his things and followed Mikan to the kitchen.

"Here" said Mikan, handing him his glass of water. "So, what did your parents say about…moving into my house?" wondered Mikan.

"Well, I actually don't know. I think they're fine with it, seeing as Natsume's mum was the one who talked to them first, so…" was all Koko could say before taking a drink.

"What's on your mind, Koko?" Mikan asked him as she leaned over the kitchen bench top.

"What do you mean?" asked Koko.

"I know something's on your mind" stated Mikan. "Tell me what it is" she said. Koko stared at the mug in his hands before setting it down on the bench.

"Why couldn't I read Kaoru's mind today?" asked Koko. Mikan leaned off the kitchen bench and took a deep breath.

"I put a barrier around her thoughts with my Nullification Alice, Koko" answered Mikan. Koko frowned and said, "Yes, I know, but what I'm wondering is _why_"

"You don't need to know, Koko" said Mikan, taking a drink from her glass of water.

"You're hiding something, Mikan. Just what is it?" he asked.

"You'll end up knowing soon enough" replied Mikan before taking another drink. _'Maybe'_ she added. Koko heaved a sigh.

"Alright then…" said Koko, not bothering to care anymore.

"How about I show you around, Koko?" asked Mikan. Koko nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, Mikan called the short tour to an end. "I think that should be enough for now. You just need to know how to get down stairs for now. I'll show you more of the house tomorrow" said Mikan. She then walked up the stairs, leading to a hallway full of doors.

"I…think I'll get lost" said Koko. Mikan laughed.

"Don't worry, you won't" Mikan reassured him. "My room is on this side" said Mikan, pointing to the right side of the hallway as they walked down, "and _this_ is your room" she said, walking closer to the left side of the hallway. "So, your room is on the left side of the hallway, second last room" she told Koko. Koko nodded as he watched Mikan open the door.

"Wow…" uttered Koko when he walked into the room. He then turned around to face a grinning Mikan.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. You have a bathroom in your room already, it's over…there" said Mikan, pointing to the left side of the room, "but if you ever need to use any other bathrooms in the house… please use the one downstairs, not the one upstairs, okay?" she told him. She then walked towards the door, followed by Koko.

"Goodnight, Koko" she said before stepping out of the room.

"Goodnight, Mikan" said Koko before closing the door. He then turned to face his new room and muttered, "This is so _awesome_" before preparing for bed.

Across the hallway, Mikan entered her own room and heaved a sigh. "Persona is going to kill me" she wailed. She then stomped towards her bathroom and got ready for bed. Ten minutes later, she came out in a tank top and shorts. Mikan stretched for a few minutes before hopping into bed.

"I'm not going to like tomorrow" muttered Mikan before falling asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>BEEP, BEEP, BEEP<strong>

Mikan came out from her bathroom and shut off her alarm, which was set at 4:30am, which she forgot to turn off when she woke up. Usually, Mikan would have an alarm on just in case she doesn't wake up in time, which rarely happens. She then walked out onto her balcony in a pair of jogging shorts and a blue fitted cross back crop top under a hooded zip up jacket. She quickly grabbed her water bottle and made her way to the forest in her school- Northern Forest.

When she arrived, Persona was already there, leaning against a tree. Mikan approached him soundlessly and greeted him.

"'Morning, Persona" she said. She then didn't bother waiting for a reply she wasn't going to bet and started to warm up. Ten minutes later, she stood up straight and closed her eyes, listening around her, waiting for her brother to make the first move.

Mikan ducked and threw a kick, sensing her brother coming from her right. She then turned around and blocked an attack thrown at her.

"I see you've got company at the house now" said Persona. Mikan's eyes widened and almost got thrown off the ground, if it wasn't for a fast reflexes.

"Don't let the opponent catch you off guard" growled Persona. He then appeared behind her and activated his Alice. Mikan spun around when sensed his Alice heading towards her direction, quickly nullifying it. She then activated her Ice Alice and threw a couple of ice blade his way, which he easily dodged, along with the wind blade that Mikan threw at him.

"Remember to save your energy" he told her as he appeared behind her. Mikan bent down, attempting to trip him, knocking him off his feet before standing up again when he jumped backwards.

"You're not working hard enough!" he growled.

"Well, I'm trying!" yelled Mikan as she blocked an attack, throwing an attack of her own.

"Well then, you're not trying enough!" barked Persona. Mikan growled.

'_Bloody hell'_ she thought as she ducked, rolling onto her back and leaping back onto her feet again.

Two hours later, Mikan leaned against the tree, slightly out of breath. She looked up and glared at her brother, who was causally leaning against the tree across from her, as if all he had been standing there all morning. Mikan checked her watch and leaned off the tree.

"It's already 6:30, I should get back" announced Mikan. Persona then appeared in front of her, his arms crossed.

"Get Hyuuga to live with you" ordered Persona. Mikan's eyes widened.

"What? No way" she retorted.

"Do it, or else I can guarantee that the rest of the month for you will be a living _hell_" threatened Persona before disappearing. Mikan turned around and kicked the dirt on the ground.

"Far out" mumbled Mikan, rubbing the palm of her hand on her face. She then did a quick stretch before teleporting herself to her room.

* * *

><p>Koko came out of his room, rubbing his eyes, trying to wake himself up properly. Just then, Mikan exited her room, in an oversized shirt that seemed to look too long to be a shirt, but too short to be a dress.<p>

"Whoa" she exclaimed, surprised, "Good morning, Koko" she greeted him, smiling at the shirtless boy in front of her.

"Good morning, Mikan" he greeted her, not taking his eyes off her legs. Mikan raised an eyebrow and stared at Koko staring at her. When Koko finally realised that Mikan was staring at him, he blushed.

"Sorry, I'll um, put on a shirt" he said. Mikan laughed and shook her head.

"Don't worry about that, Koko. It's not the first time I've had a shirtless male in the house" said Mikan before heading downstairs. Koko stared at Mikan's retreating figure, dumbfounded for a moment before being brought back to reality by Mikan's call for breakfast. Koko snapped out of his many theories in his head and quickly went downstairs.

"What's for breakfast?" asked Koko, grinning. Mikan grinned at him.

"No much" she answered as she transferred a container over to the kitchen bench before taking out a couple of muffin tops and topping them with scrambled eggs and salmon.

"Smoked salmon and… microwave scrambled eggs" announced Mikan. Koko raised an eyebrow.

"Never had that before" he said. Mikan laughed.

"A bit weird at first, but it tastes better later" admitted Mikan as she handed him his share of the food, who more than willingly took a bite out of the food as soon as he received it.

"Wow, this is amazing, Mikan!" he exclaimed. Mikan laughed and started eating as well. Just then, the doorbell rang. Mikan put down her muffin top filled with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs down and headed towards the door, followed by Koko who was still eating. Mikan laughed at Koko and opened the door. When she saw who it was, her face fell, and turned to face Koko, who was in the middle of biting into his muffin top when he froze.

"Well…isn't this an interesting things to see early in the morning. Is that your shirt, Koko? What did you guys _do_ last night?" asked the person.

Koko and Mikan stared at the person in front of them, wide eyed. They then looked at each other and realised how it must have looked like. Mikan in an oversized shirt, Koko shirtless… They then look over at the person at the door.

"Natsume…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I was typing this chapter up while sing random songs I have no clue as to what they mean. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Drop a review(:


	7. The Mysterious Script

**Summary: Mikan Sakura, an operative- someone who works by breaking the rules to do the right thing, is given a mission to protect Natsume Hyuuga - one entitled to take over his parent's renowned company. But this mission has one side to it: "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will end up dyed in blood"**

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter six

Mikan and Koko stared at Natsume for what seemed like ages until Natsume raised his eyebrow at them before dropping them after a few minutes and rolled his eyes instead. Mikan was first to snap out of it and stepped aside.

"Uh, come in..." she muttered, opening the door wider for Natsume. Natsume raised an eyebrow at her.

"I hope everything's in place. I don't want to go in and see a trashed house" mocked Natsume. Mikan glared at Natsume. Just then, Koko snapped out of it.

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" he yelled at Natsume, eyes widened.

"What does it look, Koko?" Natsume asked Koko. Koko sweat dropped.

"Uhh… w-w-well, y-you see…um…" stuttered Koko. Natsume rolled his eyes and walked into the house. Mikan was about to close the door when she felt a familiar presence.

"Kaoru" she called out when she came into view. "What are you doing...?" Kaoru walked in and dragged Mikan into her kitchen. "...here" Mikan continued when they entered the kitchen.

"Yori's going to come in later with Natsume's things" said Kaoru. "I'm sorry Mikan, but it just irritates me that you're close by, but still too far to protect my son if something unexpected was to happen" muttered Kaoru. "No offence" Kaoru quickly added in. Mikan waved a dismissive hand.

"None taken" answered Mikan. She then looked into the other room and saw Koko waving his arms around while Natsume was casually sitting on the arm of the sofa with his arms crossed, not the slightest bit interested in what Koko was saying.

"It's alright, Kaoru. I understand" said Mikan. "Well, not really, but seeing as I also worry over a lot of things and... never mind" said Mikan, not bothering to explain. Kaoru chuckled.

"No, it's alright" said Kaoru. She then looked Mikan in the eyes. "I want my son to live here. Even if he sleeps in the damn _backyard_"

Mikan smiled and nodded. "It's alright. I have another spare room. His room will be beside Koko's" said Mikan. Kaoru nodded, but then raised an eyebrow and smirked at Mikan.

"Speaking of Koko… Tell me why _you_ are wearing a _male's_ shirt, while _Koko_ is **shirtless**?" asked Kaoru. Mikan sweat dropped.

"Oh, come on!" groaned Mikan as she turned around 360 degrees, so she stopped in front of Kaoru again.

"Male shirts are comfortable to be in, and Koko just happens to sleep shirtless" explained Mikan. Kaoru opened her mouth to say something but Mikan butted in and said, "So, why don't we join the other two outside?"

Kaoru grinned, but nodded, agreeing. "Alright" she said as she followed Mikan out of the kitchen.

"What are you two boys doing?" Kaoru asked Natsume and Koko, who were still doing what they were before.

"Natsume's not listening to me!" complained Koko. Natsume rolled his eyes at his friend in front of him.

"Why should I?" muttered Natsume. Koko opened his mouth to say something when Mikan appeared next to him and clamped a hand over his mouth and told him to hush.

"Go and put on a shirt" Mikan told him. Koko nodded and quickly made his way upstairs. She then turned to Natsume and said, "I'll, uh, show you to your room"

Mikan turned and headed upstairs first, not caring if Natsume would follow her or not, because she knew that Kaoru would deal with him. And as she expected, Mikan heard Kaoru pat Natsume's back and tell him to hurry up and carry his bags and follow her.

Mikan finally reached the top of the stairs and turned around to see Natsume carrying two of his suitcases, followed by his mum, who was also carrying another suitcase. Mikan raised an eyebrow but dropped it and turned around and continued to walk down the 'hallway of doors' as Koko would call it when she read his mind. Mikan almost reached Natsume's room when Koko exited his room in a roll-up check shirt and jeans. Mikan gave him a quick smile before walking past him and opened the door to the right of Koko's room.

"This is you room" she told Natsume as he approached the room. "Just remember the room at the _very_ end of hallway"

"Hn" was all she received as an answer from Natsume, who entered the room, not caring that Mikan's jaw had dropped by his rudeness.

"What a _rude _b-"

"Save the colourful words for until I'm gone please" Kaoru butted in. Mikan blushed and nodded, muttering a sorry.

Kaoru smiled at the embarrassed girl and patted her shoulder as she set down her son's suitcase, which he then collected from the ground and placed on the bed, "It's alright, Mikan" Kaoru reassured Mikan. Mikan nodded and gestured Kaoru to enter the room, which she did.

"As you can see, the room's quite plain…but if you want anything done it-"

"Leave it" Natsume butted in. Mikan looked at him, confused.

"I'm sorry, wha-"

"I said 'leave it'" grumbled Natsume, "There is no need to decorate this room. I hate colourful, creepy things around my room" he said. Mikan held back her laughter and coughed it up instead.

"Uh, alright then…" she murmured. "um, as you see, you have a bathroom in here, but if you ever want to use the any of the other bathrooms in the house, please you the one upstairs, not the one upstairs" she told him. Natsume nodded and started to unpack his things.

Just then, Kaoru's phone rang. Kaoru excused herself and answered the call as she went outside the room. Mikan turned to face Natsume and walked towards him, slowly- _ever_ so slowly.

Mikan saw Natsume open his suitcase full of books and started to take them out and placing them on the shelf. Mikan hesitantly reached out to grab a book, ready to take her hand back if Natsume were to snap. To her surprise, Natsume had no response in her action. '_Usually he would have barked at the person who even dared going near his book_' thought Mikan. Mikan looked down at the book and flipped it over to read the blurb before walking over to the corner book shelf that was a couple of metres from the bed, beside the balcony door.

"What are you doing?" Natsume asked her after she picked up a small pile of books and started to stack them on the bookshelf.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Mikan asked him sarcastically, "I'm putting the books" Mikan jumped up to place a book on the bookshelf, "on the-" Mikan picked another book and stood on her tip toes and placed a book on the shelf, "bookshelf" she finished her sentence as she went on her tip toes again to put another book on the shelf. Natsume rolled his eyes went and brought a large pile of his books over the book shelf and placed them on one of the empty shelves of the shelf before grabbing the book out of Mikan's hand, which she was having difficulty putting onto the shelf, and put it on the shelf himself.

"Why don't you do the lower shelves while I do the top shelves, eh?" he suggested as he grabbed the top half on the pile of books and started to place them on the bookshelf. Mikan chuckled and shook her head as she grabbed the bottom half of the pile of books and started to place the books on the shelf as well.

Just then Kaoru entered the room, "Well, seems like I have to go now" she announced, "Bye, kids" she bid them as she turned around.

"Oh, wait, Kaoru! I'll escort you out" Mikan called out as she carefully placed the books on the bed and rushed out the door.

"I know the way out the door, Mikan" said Kaoru. Mikan laughed.

"I'm sure you do, but, um…" Mikan stopped in her tracks. Kaoru was caught surprised and stopped after walking down one more step.

"What is it?" Kaoru asked Mikan.

"Are you sure you want Natsume living here?" Mikan asked her.

"I trust you, Mikan" Kaoru told her. Mikan smiled and nodded.

"Alright, then" she replied and they continued to descend the stairs. When they reached the bottom, they saw Koko on the couch, watching something on the television.

"So that's where he went. I wondered where he had gone to" said Mikan. Kaoru grinned and made her way out the front door.

"Well, I leave him in your care, Mikan, but if he does anything that is completely out of hand…" Kaoru patted Mikan's shoulder, "give me a call" she told Mikan. Mikan grinned and nodded.

"Alrightio, then, I must be off" announced Kaoru.

"Wait!" Mikan called out when Kaoru turned to leave. "Aren't you going to bid Natsume goodbye?" Mikan asked her. Kaoru let out a sad laugh.

"He's use to my usual departures" said Kaoru, "Probably why the boy is so closed up and cold now" added Kaoru. "It's my entire fault" Kaoru muttered. Mikan frowned.

"No, it's not" Mikan told her, "Please don't think that" Mikan stepped forward and leaned forward to hold Kaoru's hand between hers.

"I promise I'll do what I can do to get your son to open up, alright?" said Mikan. Kaoru sniffed and nodded before hugging Mikan.

"Thank you, Mikan" she thanked Mikan, "I appreciate it" she added before turning and quickly jogging towards the car.

"Bye, bye!" Mikan called out, waving as the car reversed out of the driveway. Mikan went into the house after the car disappeared and raised an eyebrow at Koko, who was completely hypnotised by whatever was on the television.

"Why don't we go out shopping for dinner and pick up lunch along the way, Koko?" Mikan asked him. No response. Mikan rolled her eyes.

"Koko, would you like to go to the beach and see girls in nothing but their underwear?" Mikan asked him sarcastically. Koko snapped out of it.

"Huh? What did you say, Mikan?" Koko asked her as he turned down the volume of the television.

"I asked if you wanted to go to the shops with me for tonight's dinner" said Mikan, "And I'll probably get some lunch on the way" Mikan added.

"Sure thing, Mikan" Koko replied, smiling. Mikan smiled at him.

"Great, let me go and change first" Mikan told him before rushing up the stairs. Mikan headed into her room and quickly took off her oversized shirt, jogging into the bathroom to refresh herself for the day, in her undergarments. She then came out and chucked on a brown checked playsuit with a classic cut, twin hip pockets to the lower body, full sleeves with button cuffs, which she buttoned up and a turn-up design to the shorts and cuffs (Searching up: 'Brown Asos Checked Playsuit' on Google should do).

"Damn it, where are my shoes?" exclaimed Mikan as she ran into her walk-in closet while brushing her hair. "Oh, there it is" muttered Mikan as she bent down, chuckling her hair brush aside, and collected her black converse shoes and started to hop out of her room, trying to put on her shoes at the same time, not forgetting to grab her purse and close her door as she exited her room.

When Mikan reached the stairs, she stood up straight and quickly descended the stairs but the moment she got off the last stair, she started hopping over to the door, putting on her other shoe.

"Ah, finally done" Mikan sighed. Mikan looked up to see Koko's grinning face.

"Not really" replied Koko, "You still have to tie up your shoe laces" he told her. Mikan looked down at her feet and groaned.

"I hate doing my shoelaces" groaned Mikan. She then looked at Koko with puppy dog eyes. "Can you tie them for me?" Mikan asked him, raising one leg at him. Koko rolled his eyes and slightly pulled up the ends of his of his jeans and went down on one knee and placed Mikan's foot on his knee and started to tie her shoelaces. Mikan grinned and started to tie her hair in a low pony tail with one of the hair ties she had around her wrist.

"Alright, other foot, Mikan" Koko told her. Mikan took her foot off Koko's knee and placed her other foot on his knee.

"What the hell are you two up to now? Smother each other's legs until they're all covered in saliva before going at it again?"

Mikan and Koko slowly looked towards the owner of the voice. Mikan rolled her eyes.

"Shut up" she told him, taking her foot off Koko's knee when he finished tying her shoelace. She then muttered a quick thank you before grabbing a thin coat and quickly put it on.

"You want to come along?" Mikan asked Natsume, who have descended the stairs.

"Go where?" he asked her.

"Shops, food, stuff" was all Mikan told him before opening the door and stepping out of the house, followed by Koko.

Natsume stared at the empty space only to be occupied with Mikan's face reappeared again not too long after.

"Well? I'm not going to wait all day" she told Natsume. Natsume rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Polka dots" he muttered and made his way out the door, closing it before him. Mikan grinned and turned around and started walking.

"Wait, we're _walking_?" questioned Koko.

"Why should we _not_?" Mikan asked him. Koko cleared his throat.

"Well, Natsume's cars right over there…" replied Koko, pointing towards a red, shiny car at the driveway, which unmistakably shows that the owner takes pride his car. Mikan rolled his eyes and turned around to face Natsume, who had already taken out his car keys.

Mikan smirked and grab the keys quickly and turned towards the car, leaving Natsume standing, dumbfounded.

"Oi, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Natsume asked her, advancing towards her. Koko took tiny steps backwards, prepared to run for it if anything was to happen. Mikan's smirk widened.

"I'm driving" she told him, holding up the keys eye level and unlocking the car in front of his eyes. Mikan turned around to open the car door, only to be stopped by Natsume who stopped her from opening the door and spun her around, then trapping her between him and the car.

"What makes you think I'll let you drive my car?" he asked her.

"Nothing" Mikan answered honestly, "But just to let you know, I have a _lot_ of connections that will allow me to know some of your _deepest_ secrets" she told him. Natsume scoffed.

"And I will believe you _because_?" he asked her. Mikan raised an eyebrow at him and gently placed her hands on his chest and went on her tip toes to whisper into his ear.

"I never said you needed to believe me" she whispered before pushing Natsume away from her. Natsume watched Mikan as she opened the car door and gracefully glided into the driver's seat. Koko appeared next to Natsume with an amused look on his face.

"She sure is a piece of work, isn't she?" he asked Natsume, who glared at him. Koko sweat dropped and ran towards the car and went into the back seat, behind the driver's seat.

Mikan rolled down the driver's window and gave him an amused look before asking, "Are you going to stand there all day or are you coming with us?"

Natsume grunted in reply and made his way over to the passenger side of the car and plopped himself into the passenger front seat.

"Alright then, let's go" Mikan announced, putting the key into the ignition and starting up the car.

Before Mikan hit the pedal, Natsume butted in. "Could you be careful with the car? I won't hesitate to sue your ass if you damage the car" he warned her. Mikan smirked.

"I like a guy who's tough" was all she said before hitting the pedal, driving out of the driveway.

"_BLOODY _HELL" Koko yelled when she suddenly stopped. "_Please_ be careful driving, Mikan" he begged her. He then whispered, "I'm much too young to die and still have many things I want to do"

Mikan rolled her eyes and started driving. A _little_ bit faster than needed to. Natsume closed his eyes and leaned back against his seat, trying to calm himself down and trying to not worry over his lovely car. But when Mikan did a sharp turn around the corner, his eyes snapped open as well as his patience.

"_Woo_, that was fun!" Mikan exclaimed as she climbed out of the car before Natsume could say anything.

"I would have to disagree on that, Mikan" muttered Koko, stepping out of the car, along with Natsume. When Natsume got out of the car, he glared at Mikan, even if she didn't pay attention to him.

"Come on, let's get going" she called out as she slung her shoulder bag over her shoulder, not forgetting to lock the car as they walked away. Mikan stopped and waited for Natsume until he caught up with her and Koko before walking up beside him and putting her hand into his pockets to put back his car keys.

"Err, Mikan, what did you just-" Koko was about to ask her when she ran into the shops.

"WOW, this place is absolutely _huge_!" Mikan exclaimed. Natsume rolled his eyes and followed her.

"I don't get how it is possible for you to overly exaggerate on such little things" stated Natsume. Mikan stuck her tongue out at him before running to Koko, who was making his way towards an electronics store.

"What are you going to buy, Koko?" Mikan asked him.

"I'm not sure…" Koko answered honestly, "But, um, I was wondering if I was able to have permission to buy a console for the house?"

Mikan stared at Koko for a moment before walking into the store, herself. Koko smirked and followed her, blabbering on about different types of games and also suggesting a couple of games that he thought Mikan would like.

Mikan raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I'd like fashion runway games?" Mikan asked Koko. "A little stereotypical there, aren't we, Koko?"

Koko chuckled nervously and apologised, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oi, you two, stop flirting and quickly buy whatever it was you wanted so we can start buying the food" Natsume called out to them before disappearing. Mikan turned to Koko with a questioning expression.

"Where's he going?" Mikan asked him.

"Probably the bookstore not far from here" answered Koko, "Come on, let's follow him"

"Wait, what about the game-"

"No, that can wait" Koko butted in, "because if we don't drag Natsume away from the bookstore now, we'll end up coming home with a stack of books to carry into the house"

Mikan laughed and shook her head as Koko grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the store and towards the bookstore.

"Wow, this place smells so nice" said Mikan. Koko stared at her with a weird expression on his face.

"How is that possible?" asked Koko. Mikan merely shrugged and walked over towards Natsume.

"Come on, let's go, Natsume" she said before turning and walking away from Natsume, who was reading the blurb of a book.

"Wait, Mikan, you can't simply tell him it's time to go and then turn and leave!" exclaimed Koko, "You need to pull him awa…away…" Koko stopped talking. His eyes widened. Natsume was _actually_ putting down the _book _in his hand and walked out of the bookstore with no questions asked or retorts or even a curse under his breath.

Natsume walked past Koko and patted him on the back before leaving the bookstore, following Mikan. Koko quickly snapped out of his thoughts and quickly followed the two, not wanting to be left behind.

"Come on, guys!" he called out, "Wait up!"

Mikan turned around and waited for Koko, followed by Natsume, who turned around and stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Let's quickly buy the food and then head home" said Mikan as she started walking again.

"How do you know your way around here, Mikan?" Koko asked her. Mikan simply head up a pamphlet and threw it at Koko, who caught it with both hands.

"Ohh… I see" muttered Koko, seeing the map on the back of the pamphlet. Before entering the store, Mikan turned around.

"So, what do you two want to eat?"

XXX

Mikan was currently looking through the script Narumi had given them on Tuesday, and she couldn't believe what was in front of her eyes. Mikan jumped off her bed and stomped out of her room, trying to hunt down Natsume.

Mikan slammed Natsume's door open not bothering to knock and walked over to him, her hand clutching onto the script tightly.

"Mind knocking next time?" Natsume murmured, not looking up from his work. Mikan glared down at the boy seated at his study table, working on some sort of complicated business work.

"Yeah, well, _next_ time it is" answered Mikan before slamming down the script onto the table. "Have you read through the script yet?" Mikan asked him.

"No, why would I?" muttered Natsume. Mikan heaved a sigh and grabbed the work that was on the table, forcing Natsume to face her.

"Oi, I need that" he growled at her. Mikan rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, you can have it" Mikan told him. Natsume stretched out a hand to grab his paper work, but Mikan held it away, "_after_ you listen to me" she added. Natsume heaved a sigh and slumped back into his seat.

"What is it?" he murmured, his elbow on the arm of the chair, forehead resting in the palm of his hand.

"Flick to the last page" Mikan told him. Natsume reluctantly grabbed the script that was previously slammed onto the table and flicked to the last page as told.

"What the hell?" he growled before facing Mikan.

"Exactly" replied Mikan. Natsume heaved another sigh and stood up from his chair, which Mikan then sat down on.

"Yeah, make yourself welcome" Natsume told her sarcastically before looking back at the script. Mikan grinned and leaned back into the chair.

"But regardless, we'll have to go through with it. We can simply ask for an extension, right?" Mikan asked Natsume. Natsume shrugged.

"Beats me, but if that stupid teacher does this crap ever again, I'll personally see it that his ass will be up in flames" murmured Natsume as he continued to read through script.

Mikan grabbed Natsume's own copy of the script and shoved it into his hands before taking back her own.

"Anyway, I think we should practice now, anyway" said Mikan, "Its due this week, isn't it?"

"It's due at the _end_ of the week" Natsume pointed out.

"I don't care, we're practicing the damn script" Mikan told him as she dragged him out his room and dragged him down the stairs.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter<p>

* * *

><p>AN: I apologise for any mistakes in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it (:

Not much happened in this chapter, I guess. Then again, there's got to be a couple of boring chapters in every story to make the other chapters thrilling.

Anyway, thank you for reading~


	8. First Assembly and Joining Classes

**Summary: Mikan Sakura, an operative- someone who works by breaking the rules to do the right thing, is given a mission to protect Natsume Hyuuga - one entitled to take over his parent's renowned company. But this mission has one side to it: "Don't fall in love or else you and everyone around you will end up dyed in blood"**

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter Seven

"COME ON, WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE" yelled Koko, urging Mikan and Natsume out the door.

"Al-_RIGHT_, Koko" Mikan shouted as she ran down the stairs, pulling Natsume along with her by the wrist, swing her bag onto her shoulder. Mikan held out her hand to Natsume and said, "Keys"

Natsume raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I'll give you my car keys _this_ time?" Natsume asked her. Mikan stopped and looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Alright then, let's get going" said Mikan as she grabbed the house keys from the table beside the door and ushered the boys out the door before closing it behind her, not forgetting to lock the door.

Mikan walked up beside Natsume and pushed her side into his before walking over to the car…to the driver's side.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Natsume asked her. Mikan held up Natsume's car keys with a smirk on her face.

"WHOA" exclaimed Koko, "You had your hand in Natsume's pockets and he didn't know? Can you do that to me?" Koko asked her. Mikan laughed, unlocked the car and opened the car door. Natsume reluctantly made his way over to the car. Mikan shook her head and chuckled before calling out Natsume's name and throwing the keys over to him.

Natsume caught the keys with his left hand and gave her a questioning look (in his case, raising his eyebrow at her and a look that would usually say _'you're such an idiot'_ sarcastically).

"Come on, we ought to go or else, as Koko pointed out quite clearly _many_ times already, late" said Mikan, ignoring his questioning look. Natsume answered with 'Hn' and entered the car wordlessly, followed by Mikan and Koko.

A couple of minutes later, they reached the school and Koko hopped out of the car and ran for it. Mikan and Natsume stared at Koko through the car window, eyebrows raised.

"What's up with him?" asked Mikan. Natsume shrugged and unfastened his seatbelt and got out of the car. Mikan dug through her bag and got out a small box, a box like the ones for rings. Mikan opened the box, revealing a necklace with a silver chain and a mask pendant on it. Mikan put it over her head and on her neck before unfastening her seatbelt and got ready to open the door. Only when she was about to open the door, the door opened for her. Mikan looked up to see a boy with dark blue hair and a star under his left eye.

"Hello, I'm Tsubasa Andou" he introduced himself as he helped Mikan out of the car.

"And I'm Mikan" she introduced herself, "Mikan Sakura"

"Please to meet you, Mikan Sakura. I've heard so many things about you already, and you're only new to this school" he told her. "You should be careful, Mikan, some guy might try to be sneaky and try to kidnap you for himself, considering how cute you are" said Tsubasa, winking at her.

Mikan threw her head back and laughed. "That's _highly_ unlikely, but thanks for the warning" said Mikan, giving him a thumb up before turning around to face Natsume, who was staring intently at his car. Mikan stared at him with an amused look on her face.

"What?" questioned Natsume as he narrowed his eyes.

"When your love for books is not able to be expressed, you go to your love for your car instead" stated Mikan, "What else do you have an undesirable love for?" Mikan asked him. Natsume didn't answer; instead he rolled his eyes and locked his car before walking away.

Mikan checked her wristwatch and turned to Tsubasa and said, "Well, I think we should get going" she told him, "It's almost time for assembly and I don't want to be late"

Tsubasa nodded and gestured for her to walk first. Mikan smiled and walked ahead first.

On the way to assembly, they passed Koko, who was seated on the ground, working furiously. Mikan stopped in front of him with her eyebrow raised.

"You didn't finish your math homework, did you" Mikan states more than asked. Koko grunted in reply and continued to do his work. Mikan kneeled down onto the ground and grabbed a pen from her bad and started to write the answers in the second column of work. Koko stopped and stared at Mikan, surprised.

"Stop staring at me" she told him, "You owe me for this" Mikan added. Mikan turned around to Tsubasa and said, "Why don't you go ahead, it might take a while"

Tsubasa pursed his lips together but nodded nevertheless. He big the two goodbye and jogged his way to the hall for assembly. Koko nodded and continued doing his work. A couple of minutes later, the bell rang for assembly and Koko finished the last question with the help of Mikan. Bother of them stood up and ran for it- Very fast.

"Alright, is we enter and everyone stared at us, you're doing the dishes for a month" Mikan told him before running into the hall. Luckily for them, assembly hadn't started yet.

"Alright, you're safe for now" Mikan told him. Koko let out a deep breath and grabbed Mikan's wrist and pulled her towards their line, where everyone else in their class was standing. When they reached their group, Koko pushed Mikan behind Yuu before getting behind the straight line, beside Kitsuneme.

"What's going on, Yuu?" Mikan asked him. Yuu leaned down slightly and spoke to her in a soft voice.

"We usually stand in straight lines, facing the front of the hall and wait for the principal to arrive, as well as the rest of the party" explained Yuu, meaning the official party of the school, "Then, the class representatives all go to the very front of the hall, just in front of the stage and take their seats there" Yuu added. He then cleared his throat as the official party came in.

"By the way, you'll be going up on stage and have your official welcome from the school" whispered Yuu. Mikan's eyes widened.

"What?" she exclaimed in a half shout-half whispered voice.

"Don't worry, I'll be standing next to you all the way and making sure you won't fall" replied Yuu. "Well, I need to go now" he told her before turning to take his place in the front seats, in front of the large stage.

Mikan stared at Yuu as he walked away. "This is so unfair" muttered Mikan. Beside her, Ruka patted her hand, trying to calm her down. Mikan smiled at him gratefully before turning to face the stage, where Kazumi was already standing before the wooden podium that was on stage. Kazumi fixed the microphone to the desired height and cleared his throat, ready to speak now that the students were silent.

"Good morning, students of Alice Academy" he greeted them.

"Good morning, Principal Kazumi" the students greeted in return, in union. Kazumi nodded, pleased and looked down at the notes in front of him and started to speak about how proud he was about the behaviour of students recently, extra news about the cafeteria, and a couple of notices about assessments that were due and what he expected from the students.

"Now, last week, there was a new addition to the school" he started off, leaned forward with his arms resting on top of the podium. "You all probably know her already, but I shall introduce her anyway. Miss Sakura, please come to the stage" he called for her.

Mikan looked down at the ground and made her way down the pathway leading up to the stairs to go up onto the stage. When Mikan was close enough the stage, she looked up and saw Yuu standing at the end of the stairs, holding out a hand to help her up the stairs. Mikan grabbed his hand thankfully and carefully made her way up the stairs. When they reached the top of the stairs, Yuu leaded her beside the podium, next to the principal and let go of her hand, taking a step back and crossed his hands behind his back.

Mikan hesitated when Yuu let go of her hand, immediately looking back at Yuu, who gave her an encouraging nod. Mikan nodded back and turned around to face the rest of the school.

"Everyone, this is Mikan Sakura, a new addition to the school" he introduced Mikan. "I expect you all to make her feel welcome" he added, giving everyone a serious look.

"Yes, Sir" answered the students. Kazumi nodded and turned to Mikan, silently telling her to step in front of the podium and introduce herself.

Mikan did as she was silently told and stepped behind the podium, slightly going on her tip toes to reach the microphone. Before she could speak, Yuu appeared beside her and fixed the microphone to make it more comfortable for her. Mikan quickly grabbed his arm before he could take a step back, making sure he was beside her. Mikan kept a firm hold on Yuu's hand, which was hidden behind the podium, and rested her left hand on top of the podium.

"Good morning, I-"

"Good morning" answered the students. Mikan's grip on Yuu's hand tightened from the surprised.

"Um, yeah…" muttered Mikan, "Um, hello, I'm Mikan Sakura, age seventeen- just recently- and I am in class 3-A, with, as you can see, the class representative being Yuu Tobita" said Mikan, gesturing towards Yuu on her right. "And I have the Alice of Nullification, which allows me to temporarily stop someone from using their Alice" Mikan told them. She then quickly added, "I hope that I will be helpful being in this school and learn new things for the following years I will be here", before taking a step back, letting go of Yuu's hand along the way.

"Alright, thank you Miss Sakura"

Mikan nodded and smiled at Yuu as he offered his hand to help her down the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Mikan went on her tip toes as high as she could and whispered to Yuu, "I'm sorry about your arm"

Yuu chuckled and shook his head slightly, telling her to not worry about it. Mikan smiled shyly before quickly making her way back to her spot, next to Ruka, who held out a hand for her to grab. Mikan thankfully grabbed Ruka's outstretched hand and had him pull her next to him.

"Alright, that is all for today's assembly" announced Kazumi. "You may now head back to class, one by one, so class representatives …" Kazumi turned to face the rows of representatives, "do your usual job" he told them.

Mikan watched as Kazumi made his way down the stairs, followed by the rest of the party and headed out of the hall, with the class representatives following close behind, stopping when they reached their own classes and started to lead their class out of the hall, one after the other.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went by smoothly, though Mikan thought there had to be a catch, so when it was time for their entertainment class after school, Mikan knew that Narumi would drop a bomb shell. And she was right.<p>

Narumi entered the classroom with his usual stacked folder and stood at the front of the classroom.

"Alright class, I have an urgent meeting that I need to go to straight away, but I have an announcement to make" he started off. "You assignments will not be due until a month _at the very least_" he told the class.

"Why?" asking Koko.

"Because, Koko" Narumi said as he took a step forward, "You will be working with the Film and Production class"

Mikan turned to Koko, who was beside and whispered, "_What?"_

"Yes, Mikan" answered Narumi, grinning. "You're going to be filmed"

"Oh, crap" Mikan muttered, turning her body around and hiding her face in Koko's shoulder as another class entered the room. Koko put his arm around Mikan and stroked her arm silently.

Mikan looked up and saw Tsubasa as he entered the classroom, laughing and joking with one of his other friends. Tsubasa caught Mikan's eye and waved at her. Mikan smiled and nodded at him as she removed Koko's arm around her and linked arms with him instead.

"Alright, I'll leave you all to it. Choose your own partners. All these students have had enough time, experience and knowledge taught to them for a long time, so they're doing it on their own, so one camera person for each pair" was all Narumi said before disappearing out the door, leaving his folder on the table.

Everyone looked around awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Mikan rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh as she unlinked her arms with Koko.

"Well," she started off, "we should start pairing up and get to work" Mikan told them as she walked up to the front of the class to the teacher's desk and opened the large folder, seeing lots of booklets, enough for everyone in the class. Mikan picked up a booklet and quickly scanned through them before picking up the pile of booklets and started to hand them out.

"All we need to know is in this booklet, everything except the due date, but as Narumi said, it's due in a month _at the least_, so it shouldn't be much of a worry, judging by for short our scripts are" she said as she handed them out. "But I'm only saying that from my class' point of view. I have no idea about editing and such, so you guys will be the ones telling us if we need to hurry our asses and learn out scripts and when to film" she said, directing it towards the other class.

After handing the last script to the last person, Mikan announced, "Alright, let's get to work and pair up"

Tsubasa instantly approached her with a smile. Mikan smiled at him and handed him her booklet.

"Let's get to work then" Mikan told him.

"What makes you think I want to work with you?" asked Tsubasa.

"You were saying it rather loudly…silently" Mikan told him, confused, herself. Tsubasa laughed and nodded.

"That's acceptable" he said.

"Natsume" Mikan called out and made her way to one of the desks by the window, grabbing the collar of Natsume's shirt and pulling him along with her on the way since he wasn't listening to her.

Mikan pushed Natsume down onto the chair and sat next to him, crossing one leg over the other.

"Alright, judging from what I already know about the two of you" Tsubasa spoke as he grabbed a chair and sat down, this body facing towards the back of the chair, leaning his arms of the back of the chair, "So I assume you both know your lines already"

Mikan grinned and nodded. "You assume right. We've already learned them and run them over"

"Alright, have you done the action?" Tsubasa asked them. Natsume raised an eyebrow at Tsubasa while Mikan gave Tsubasa a weird look.

"What I mean is, have you acted it out yet? Like, _actually_ act it out" said Tsubasa.

"Erm, no…" Mikan told him, looking out the window while Natsume looked the other way. Tsubasa stared at the look of them with an amused look.

"Um, can I have a look at the script?" asked Tsubasa.

"Um…" Mikan hesitated. "Sure" she told him before going into her bag and taking out the script in her bag. Mikan handed the script to Tsubasa and he started reading it as soon as it touched his hand.

"_Cup of coffee_" he said, "nice name" he joked. Mikan stared at him, giving him a 'seriously?' look. Tsubasa cleared his throat and flicked through the pages. His eyes landed on the last page of the script and smirked.

"Nice script" he commented, "We'll have a close up shot for _this_ bit"

Natsume glared at Tsubasa, giving him chills down his spine. Tsubasa put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, but a close up would be good for this bit…" Tsubasa stopped and looked at the two people in front of him.

"But… I guess that could wait" he muttered, putting down the script.

"Let's just run through the things you already have planned in your head" muttered Natsume.

"How do you know-"

"It's all over your face, Koko" Mikan butted in. Tsubasa grinned and opened the script.

"Alright, let's get to work" he told them.

"Abso_lutely_ **great**" Natsume sarcastically muttered under his breath.

* * *

><p>"Koko's gone back home for the night, so I guess we'll just have instant noodles for dinner" said Mikan.<p>

"Whatever" answered Natsume as he made his way up the stairs. Mikan nodded to herself and dropped her bag on the ground before making her way towards the basement.

Mikan entered the basement and heaved a sigh. "What is it now, Persona?" Mikan muttered, knowing her brother was in the room. Mikan turned around and saw her brother leaning against the wall, where the door would have closed on him.

"You're not paying enough attention to him, Mikan" stated Persona.

"I know" replied Mikan, crossing her arms, "That's because there's no danger around, and if so I would know of it"

"Yes, but it didn't work out the first time, did it? It was too much of a close call, Mikan" Persona told her. Mikan uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips and started to pace from left to right. Mikan placed her right hand on her chin, as if in thinking mode and said, "Alright, so what do you want me to do? Aside from the obvious, that is"

"You figure it out yourself, but that boy isn't in his room sleeping every night" he told her as he headed for the door, "Just to let you know, of course"

Mikan's eyes narrowed at her brother's retreating figure. Mikan heaved a sigh and walked over to the small change room area in the corner of the basement and grabbed the spare change of clothes in the nearby cupboard, consisting of shorts and a tank top, and changed into it. When she finished changing, Mikan walked over to the punching bag and started training.

"Stupid, annoying, compulsive brother" Mikan muttered before punching the punching bag.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter<p>

* * *

><p><span>Notice:<span> Once I update chapter 7(8 including prologue), I'll be taking three weeks or so off due to the stacks of homework that keeps appearing out of nowhere, since it's almost the end of term and 'autumn/winter' (as I call it) holidays are coming up (I'm from Australia- 10weeks of school, two weeks holidays, then 10weeks of school again, etc.). Not to mention the assignment dates that are slowly catching up with me DDD:

Well, SEE YOUUU SSSOONNN. ~ Leave a review? :3

* * *

><p>OMGOMGOMG ALMOST FORGOT. There's a poll on my profile page things. For the readers of 'A new girl's presence', would you rather a sequel or a couple of extra chapters to add detail in some of the events that happened and to add in a couple of extras. Of course the sequel will be AFTER I finish 'The Beginning of Mysteries'...

~Byebye


	9. An Invitation

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter eight

A light breeze entered Mikan's room, where she was currently meditating, seated on the floor of her room and listening to calm music which was in her iPod that was connected to the speakers.

"Ooooi, Mikaaaan!" Mikan heard Koko call out as he jogged up the stairs, most likely taking every second step. Not long after, Koko came bursting into Mikan's room with a huge grin on his face,

"What is it, Koko?" Mikan asked him as she prepared to stand up. Koko walked over to Mikan and offered his hand for Mikan to grab. Mikan accepted the hand and allowed Koko to help her up. When Mikan was on her feet, Koko started talking as Mikan dusted the invisible specks of dusk off her knee-length tights.

"Well, Mikan" Koko started off, "I think it's about time that we do a bit of bonding" he told her. Mikan stared at Koko.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked him. Koko laughed.

"Let me put it this way: I got tickets… for, um, this musical, and- oh don't give me that look, honey. Yes, I go to musicals" said Koko when he saw Mikan raise an eyebrow at him. Koko tucked his hands into the pocket of his pants and continued. "So, I bought a couple of tickets to a musical – two tickets in which they were meant to one for me and one for Kitsuneme. But it turns out that I am now being stood up by him because he has other plans now"

Mikan laughed at him as she turned around to walk into her walk-in closet. Koko followed behind, but stopped beside the door frame. "So, I was wondering if you would be my date for a musical premier that's on this weekend..."

Mikan spun around and faced Koko, eyes wide. "Wait, what?" Mikan asked him, slowly advancing towards him. Koko slowly stepped back.

"W-w-w-well, y-you see… I-I-I- uh…" Koko stuttered. He cleared his throat and straightened himself up. "You know what? Never mind" he told her, "It'll just be me, Ruka and Natsume, then" he added as he turned to leave. Mikan's eyes widened and strode over to Koko, slamming the palm of her hand against the door to keep it closed as Koko reached for the doorknob. Mikan ran her fingers through her ponytail as she rested her elbow on her bedroom door. Koko took a step away from the door and raised an eyebrow.

"Nice" he commented, looking at Mikan's position at the moment. One leg crossed over the other, right hand on hip, left elbow on the door with her head resting in the palm of her left hand.

"Trying to seduce me or what? Because you don't need to do all this" Koko told her, indicating towards Mikan's stance at the moment, "It's quite overwhelming to see you in a tank top and tights- which, if I may add, are skin tight" said Koko, grinning. Mikan leaned off the door and slapped Koko's arm playfully before turning around to go into her bathroom.

"So, do you want to come?" Koko asked her as he sat down on Mikan's bed. Through the bathroom door, Mikan replied, "Sure, Koko. I would love to"

Koko's face lit up. "Really?" he asked her.

"No, Koko, I just decided to stop you from exiting my room and have you ask me again and then answer that I would like to go with you for the hell of it" Mikan replied sarcastically as she came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of green shorts and a plain, white, long-sleeved shirt, along with a pair of low cut converse shoes

"Well then, I guess it's a yes, then" muttered Koko, grinning sheepishly.

"Formal?" Mikan asked him.

"What?" Koko asked, not quite understanding what Mikan was asking.

"Is it a formal occasion?" Mikan told him.

"How did you know?" Koko asked her, eyes wide. Mikan grinned as she exited her room, followed by Koko.

"It was, uh, written all over your, um, face" answered Mikan.

"Wow, really? That's cool. Anyway, yes, it is. It's, um, sort of, um, a premier. My parents are close friends with the producer of the show, who asked my family to come along for the premier. Of course, being busy people, they said that I would come in their place. The guy understood and accepted it and told me that I could bring a couple of friends along with me. Gave me an extra ticket, too, so I could bring all my close friends"

"You know… if I am to go to this… 'Musical premier'… Hold on, what's the musical even about?" question Mikan as she poured herself a glass of water.

"Well, just the typical stuff" said Koko as he shook his head Mikan mutely asked him if he wanted a glass of water as well.

"What do you mean by 'typical stuff'?"

"You know… like the…boy and girl, both-"

"Have feelings for each other but can't come to tell each other" Mikan butted in with an obvious look on her face. Koko took a deep breath and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"You got it" he muttered "or at least that's what I think it's about…" murmured Koko, going into a thinking position, elbow rest on the kitchen counter, hind on his chin. Mikan rolled her eyes.

"Well, I have to run" she told Koko, making her way towards the front door, "But I'll be back in time to cook dinner" Mikan reassured him before shutting the door behind her. Koko stared at the closed door for a moment before turning around to look around the kitchen.

"I wonder if there's anything to eat" Koko wondered to himself as he opened one of the kitchen cupboards.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Natsume, did Koko-"<p>

"Yes, he did" Natsume butted in. Ruka chuckled.

"Are you going?" questioned Ruka, eyebrow raised.

"Of course" grunted Natsume as he started to warm up. Ruka and Natsume were currently on their weekly workout at the park that was a couple of blocks away from where the both of them lived.

Every week on the same day, at the same time, no matter what weather, the two would always come and meet at the park and start training. No reminders ever needed. It was always printed into their brain ever since they were little. When they were younger, their parents would meet every week on the same day. Although they would plan to go on different times every week, it was always on the same day and at the same place.

"Old habits die hard" murmured Ruka as he did a couple of more stretches.

"Ready to roll?" asked Ruka after he finished warming up. Natsume did one final stretch and nodded. Ruka and Natsume went into their position on the running track at the park, ready to run. Just then, from the corner of his eye, Ruka saw Mikan enter the park. Ruka stood up and waved at Mikan, grabbing her attention. Mikan made her way towards Ruka and Natsume with a bright smile on her face.

"Working out, I see" was the first thing that came out of Mikan's mouth when she reached the two boys. Ruka nodded and replied, "Yeah, every week we come here"

Mikan nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, don't let me hold you back. You two keep training" Mikan told them, taking a step back to walk over the bench nearby to watch them.

"Actually, Mikan" Ruka called out.

"Oh, no you don't, Ruka" warned Natsume, giving him a glare. Ruka turned his head to face Natsume to grin at him before turning back to Mikan and continuing.

"Why don't you time us or something? Help us out with training. I hear from Koko that you get up pretty early in the morning to exercise. You must be doing something right because you look amazing" said Ruka, winking when he complimented her. Mikan laughed.

"Well, uh, thank you" Mikan thanked him. Mikan saw Natsume roll his eyes, so she decided to allow them to do their stuff. "Alright, what do you usually do?" Mikan asked the two boys, even though she already knew.

"A couple of laps around the park, push ups, chin ups over the bars, sit ups" Ruka listed, "You know, the usual stuff" he added. Mikan nodded and walked forward, stopping when she was a couple of feet in front of the two boys.

"Alright, then" she announced. "Two quick laps of the park" she told them. "I'll be timing" she added as she raised her arms above her head, as if she were holding a flag in each hand.

"On your mark" she began, "get set… GO" she exclaimed before joining her fists together beneath her chin and closing her eyes as the two boys ran past her.

"I told you quick, but not _that_ quick" whined Mikan as she watched them from where she was standing. Halfway through the first lap, Ruka and Natsume began to pace beside each other, keeping with the rhythm, to make sure they don't tire themselves out easily. The two continued the rest of the two laps at the same pace as each other, though they would speed up their pace every now and then. After the two laps, they stopped in front of Mikan, all warmed up and officially ready to start training.

"Alright, boys," said Mikan, grinning, "No more nice girl" she told them, adding a wink at the end.

Two hours later, Ruka was lying on his back on the ground while Natsume was leaning against a tree, trying to hide the fact that he was trying to catch his breath. Mikan walked over to Ruka and peered over him.

"Best work out _ever_, or what?" she asked him before extending a hand to help him up. Ruka grabbed her hand gratefully as Mikan helped Ruka get up onto his feet.

"That was a deadly workout" stated Ruka as he swung his arm over Mikan's shoulders as they made their way over to Natsume. Mikan laughed and wrapped one arms around Ruka's waist, while the other hand held onto Ruka's arm that was swung over her shoulder.

When they reached Natsume, Mikan spoke. "I think it's time for you two to go back and rest. You've worked hard" she said. Ruka and Natsume agreed. "Would you like to stop by my house, Ruka?" Mikan asked him.

"That would be lovely" answered Ruka, "Thank you very much, I would appreciate it" he added. Mikan smiled and unwrapped Ruka's arm around her shoulders and started jogging.

"Well, you're going to need to catch up with me, or else I'll lock you out of the house!" Mikan called out just before she exited the park.

"Far out" muttered Natsume as he quickly grabbed his things and broke into a jog.

"What's wrong, Natsume? Surely she's joking" said Ruka, although he quickly grabbed all his things and started jogging beside Natsume just in case.

"Well, when that _idiot_-"

"Mikan" Ruka butted in.

"-says anything like that, she means it" said Natsume, glaring at the space in front of him. Ruka couldn't help but smile.

"You already know so much about each other. That's nice" Ruka commented. Natsume turned his head and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"Nothing" Ruka answered quickly, "Don't worry"

"Whatever," muttered Natsume, "Let's go before we get locked out of the house for the next hour" he said before picking up his pace. Ruka agreed and picked up his pace as well.

_'It's nice, eh?'_ thought Natsume, thinking about what Ruka said moment ago. Natsume inwardly smirked._ 'Maybe it is.'_

* * *

><p>"Bye, Ruka!" Koko called out from the kitchen as Mikan and Natsume escorted Ruka to the door. Ruka waved a hand behind him as he exited the kitchen.<p>

When they reached the door, Mikan opened the door and stepped aside, allowing Ruka to step out onto the doorstep.

"Well, goodnight, Ruka" she told him, leaning on the door, her hand still on the doorknob. Ruka smiled.

"Goodnight, Mikan," he replied, "and sweet dreams" he told her. Mikan smiled and nodded. Ruka then turned to Natsume and nodded towards him. Natsume nodded back. Ruka gave one last nod towards Mikan and turned to leave, making his way to his awaiting car and his waiting driver ready with the car door opened.

Ruka swung his bag into the car and slipped inside. When the door closed, Ruka rolled down the window and looked at the two people by the door, next to one another. Ruka couldn't help but smiled.

"Those two… are a good match for each other" he said to no one in particular as the driver drove away.

"What was that, Master Ruka?" asked the driver.

"Nothing, Sotaru" Ruka answered his driver.

"Alright then, Sir" replied Ruka's driver. Suddenly, a thought came to Ruka's mind.

"Say, Sotaru," Ruka started off.

"Yes, Sir?" questioned Sotaru.

"Do you remember the two people a while ago?" asked Ruka, hoping Sotaru wouldn't find his question offending, as if Ruka thought his memory was like a goldfish's.

"Why, yes, Sir, what about them?" replied Sotaru.

"What do you think about those two?" Ruka asked him. Ruka heard Sotaru lean back into his seat.

"Well, I assume you're talking about their compatibility or how they looked together" Sotaru started off, "First off, they looked quite good together, very good, indeed, Sir. But in regards to their compatibility with one another…" Sotaru fell silent.

"What is it, Sotaru?"

"It is not my place to say, Sir. Although I've known Master Natsume for a while, but I have only seen your other fried for no more than ten seconds, including the time you decided to walk her home"

"But there is something on your mind, surely" said Ruka, frowning. He was desperate to know what Sotaru thought about Mikan and Natsume together. Surely it wasn't too bad… right?

"We are here, Sir" announced Sotaru, taking off his seatbelt and exiting the car to open the door for Ruka. Sotaru opened the door and waited for Ruka to come out, only, Ruka remained in his seat, in deep thought.

"Master Ruka?" Sotaru called out. Ruka snapped out of it and stepped out of the car.

"Thank you, Sotaru" said Ruka. He then frowned, back into his thoughts.

"You know go back in now, Sir. You should get a good night's rest" said Sotaru. Ruka nodded, but instead of going into the house, Ruka turned towards Sotaru. "What is it you think of Mikan and Natsume? Tell me honestly, Sotaru"

Sotaru straightened out his suit and fixed his hat. "Well, sir, I would say that it would be quite a problem for the two of them. Your friend, Miss Mikan, from what I hear, she seems to be nice. Her appearance and physical features show kindness, purity and care, though her eyes could tell a whole different story. Although I was metres away from her and I am sure you would argue that it would not have been possible to see her eyes, I was sure enough to see… emptiness in the very depth of her eyes, Master Ruka" answered Sotaru. Sotaru took a deep breath in and bowed.

"Well, goodnight, Master Ruka. Have a good night and I will see you tomorrow to drive you to school" said Sotaru before closing the car door and preparing to leave as he saw maids approaching for Ruka, and Ruka's mother waiting by the front entrance. Sotaru bowed towards Ruka's mother and disappeared as Ruka was lead to his house by the three maids surrounding him.

"Welcome back, Darling" Ruka's mum greeted him when he reached the doorstep.

"I'm back, Mother" Ruka answered automatically, trying to hide the fact that he was in deep thought of what Sotaru had told him a moment ago.

* * *

><p>"Well, I am completely drained out" said Mikan, stretching, trying to wake herself up as she went back into the house.<p>

"Then go to sleep, Idiot" answered Natsume, closing the front door. Mikan shot him a glare.

"I'm going to do the dishes first. I'll go to bed later" retorted Mikan, making her way to the kitchen. Natsume rolled his eyes and followed her.

"What are you doing?" asked Mikan when Natsume grabbed a dish towel.

"You wash, I'll dry" was all he said before turning on the tap for Mikan, so she could get started and stop asking him questions. Mikan looked at the plate in her hands and smiled before getting to work.

"Why are you so nice all of a sudden?" asked Mikan. Natsume only scoffed and went quiet, not wanting to answer the question.

"Alright then, don't answer the question that I so nicely asked you" muttered Mikan, scrubbing harder onto the plate due her irritation.

Natsume rolled his eyes. "You're going to break the plate by pressing onto his so hard, Idiot"

Mikan stopped cleaning the plate and blew a raspberry at Natsume.

"What the-!" exclaimed Natsume, whipping his face with the back of his wrists. "Spit-a-lot, much?" stated Natsume sarcastically. Mikan poked her tongue out and proceeded onto another plate.

They continued to wash the dishes in a playful mood. When they were almost done, they both felt a presence at the door.

"Night, mum and dad" they heard Koko call out. Bother their eyebrows shot up and saw Koko prancing towards the stairs. Mikan and Natsume started at each other.

"Fire?" asked Mikan.

"Fire" Natsume confirmed. And not a second later, they heard Koko yelp in surprise and pain. Mikan laughed as she handed over the last plate to Natsume and took off her gloves. Natsume finished rinsing and drying the last plate to the sound of Mikan's laughter.

When he finished, they decided to call it a night since it was still a school night. Mikan and Natsume made their way up the stairs in comfortable silence, parting ways when they arrived at their own rooms. Mikan and Natsume entered their rooms and turned around to close the door, only to catch each other's eyes.

"Goodnight, Natsume" Mikan said quietly, a faint smile appear on her face as she peered the gap that was left before she closed the door.

"Night" was all Natsume replied before Mikan finally closed the door. Mikan turned around and faced her room. Mikan paced around her room for a little bit, since she wasn't in the mood to go to bed. Finally, Mikan went into her bathroom and prepared for bed.

* * *

><p>Ruka slid into bed and made himself comfortable. Ruka tossed and turned until he ended up on his back, staring at the ceiling. He was still thinking about what Sotaru had told him. '<em>It's can't be <em>that_ bad, could it?_' wondered Ruka. Ruka spread his arms out across the bed and sighed. A new habit he developed over the coming weeks since he got tired of his previous pose, in which he placed his hands over his head.

Ruka frowned as his thoughts went back to Sotaru. He was making a big deal out of nothing again.

"Why do I always do this?" muttered Ruka as he ran his fingers through his hair. Ruka let out another sigh before closing his eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep. Just then, Ruka's eyes snapped open and he shot up from his bed.

"Mikan's eyes…" muttered Ruka, referring back to the image that had just popped into his mind when he had closed his eyes. "Her eyes… Sotaru's right, there's emptiness in them" he murmured, the palm of his hands running along his face. Ruka pulled on his cheeks and ran his hand through his hair, frustrated.

"Darn it!" exclaimed Ruka before slumped back into bed, grabbing the pillow next to him and burring his face in it.

"It's going to be one bloody night" muttered Ruka through the pillow.

* * *

><p>Mikan came out of her bathroom, in her pyjamas, which was nothing more than a loose long sleeved shirt and very short shorts, drying off her face with a towel before hanging it back in the bathroom again. Mikan bed over to her study table and grabbed her phone. Mikan unlocked her phone and began looking through her files as she opened the doors that lead her out onto the balcony. Mikan closed the doors behind her and walked up to the railing, slowly placing her left hand on the railing, while her right hand held her phone, continuing to look through the files.<p>

"Good evening, Persona" greeted Mikan, casually turning around to see Persona leaning against the balcony doors. "What do you want?" she asked him.

"You're going to need to avoid a few things from now on, Mikan. It's not going well" said Persona. Mikan frowned. Hurting her pride, much, or what?

"What do you mean?" asked Mikan.

"When I say this, I want it imprinted into your mind – love and work, Mikan" said Persona, "they do not match" he told her.

"I know, you've told me countless times" said Mikan, frowning as she took a couple of steps towards Persona. Persona grabbed Mikan by the throat and backed her up against the balcony doors.

"Then why is it that I sense _affection_ lingering around the darn house?" he snarled. Mikan's eyes narrowed freed herself from Persona's grip before speaking.

"What the hell, Persona? Natsume's right across the hall. He'll hear you, you jackass" hissed Mikan. She wasn't all too worried about Koko being able to hear them or not, because she knew Koko was a heavy sleeper.

"Just make sure you clean up your own shit once you stuff this all up" retorted Persona, "Because I sure as hell _won't_" he told her before leaping off the balcony, disappearing.

Mikan's hands found their way towards her neck as she slowly slid down onto the ground. "What the hell was that?" Mikan whispered to herself as she leaned against the balcony door.

"What was what?" Mikan heard Natsume ask from the balcony in front of his room.

"Oh, Natsume" muttered Mikan, "Hi" she said as she quickly stood up on her feet to make her way over to the balcony railing.

"So, what were you saying before?" asked Natsume. Mikan showed him her phone and said, "Just talking to people a moment ago on the phone. You wouldn't be interested"

Natsume raised an eyebrow at her, though he let it drop when Mikan looked up at the night sky.

"You always come out here at night before you go to bed?" asked Natsume. Mikan giggled.

"Since when did you become so talkative?" mocked Mikan. Natsume shot her a glare. Mikan poked her tongue out at him, and then took a deep breath in.

"Yeah, most night" she answered. Natsume nodded and joined her in looking at the sky. He always wondered why people liked looking at the sky, saying that it beautiful and pure and whatnot. Natsume found it highly ridiculous. The sky was polluted with crap. How could it be nice? But now that he was looking up at it properly, in nice silence, in a calm and peaceful atmosphere, he realised what people would always fuss about.

The star shone and glistened through the night sky, lighting up the, what would be plain, night. Mikan turned her head slightly to see Natsume staring at the sky, as if it was the first time he's ever looked at it. Mikan smiled. '_Maybe it is_' thought Mikan. She then leaned off the balcony and made her way into her room.

"Goodnight, Natsume" Mikan called out before closing the doors behind her. Natsume saw Mikan turn around and shut the curtains. That was the last time he saw her that night. Natsume heaved a sigh and entered his room. Before closing the balcony doors, he looked up at the night sky and smirked.

'_This girl… has such an effect on me_' thought Natsume. He shook his head and chuckled as he closed the balcony door, ready for a night's rest.

* * *

><p>End of Chapter<p>

* * *

><p>The story will have some action i<p>

A/N: Omg, rating is going to change to 'T'. I can't help but put in swearing in my story. A bit of action will follow on later, too. Very noob, though.

Thanks for reading~ leave a review?


	10. As Much As You Hate Me

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter nine

"Well, class, I must say I am looking forward to the screening of all your lovely works in three months" said Narumi, as he smiled brightly at his depressed class.

Mikan inwardly sighed and took out a notepad and quickly wrote down the extra tasks Narumi had given them. Yes, **extra tasks**. Narumi had just announced that he and teacher working with the Film and Production class, wanted more than one short clip to observe their skills on, so, Narumi had just announced that there were two more scenes that the class had to learn, act out and work with their partners in the other class.

Mikan realised something and quickly flipped through her scripts and scanned them.

"There's nothing there" muttered Natsume, who had been placed next to her by Narumi, since everyone was now to be seated with their acting partner. "I've already scanned though them. The only script that has _that _crap is the first script given to us"

Mikan let out a relieved sigh and placed her forehead on the table. Natsume frowned, not knowing if he should also be relieved or offended by the reaction Mikan showed when he told her the rest of their scripts didn't include anything _lovey_, like the first script given to them. Just then, they heard Koko and Kitsuneme yell. Mikan and Natsume, as well as the rest of the class, whipped their heads towards the direction of the yell to see what was wrong.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" yelled Koko.

"THERE IS NO WAY THAT I AM GOING TO 'STARE INTO THE EYES OF ONE ANOTHER PASSIONATELY" exclaimed Kitsuneme. He then pointed to Koko and shouted, "ESPECIALLY WITH THIS GUY! ARE YOU FREAKIN' CRAZY?"

Mikan and Natsume slowly turned their heads to look at each other. Both having depressed looks on their faces. Mikan hid her face into the palm of her hands and shook her head violently, while Natsume glared at the blonde teacher who was currently blushing because of the mistake he had created, oblivious to the fact that two students were on stage two of planning to strangle him to death.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear ones. That's not meant for you. I guess I got them mixed up. Can I please have all of your scripts back, please? Have one person from the two to come up and hand me both of all your scripts. I will have your scripts back in no time"

Mikan inwardly scoffed and grabbed Natsume's scripts and made her way up to Narumi, knowing that Natsume wouldn't be bothered going up to Narumi. She also knew that if he _did_ happen to go up to Narumi, they would end up needing to call medical help for Narumi.

As promised, in no time the whole class had their scripts back and all were eager to see if they had a different script. Mikan groaned when she saw a different front title in one of the three booklets when they received hers back.

"I am going to _kill_ that son of a bitch" muttered Natsume. Mikan also laughed when she Natsume's expression. She turned her body to face Natsume as she scanned through the only booklet that was different from the last three scripts.

Mikan heaved a sigh and placed the script down after she scanned through it. She then placed her arm on the table and placed her head on her arm, closing her eyes, hoping to get some rest.

"What's wrong with you? You look tired today" murmured Natsume when he saw Mikan close her eyes.

"Just didn't get that much sleep last night because had a bad feeling in my stomach. Guess I was right about it, wasn't I?" Mikan joked, eyes still closed. Only part of what she said was true. She _did_ have a bad feeling in her stomach, though it wasn't about the acting, it was about what Persona said. She may be quite observant, but not much with the touchy topic of feelings. Mikan heaved another sigh and hid her face between her arms, her forehead rested against the table.

Natsume frowned, though let it pass as he picked up on of the scripts and start to read through it. When he finished, he heaved a sigh and stood up, grabbing the two scripts that Narumi had given to Mikan and him that contained… certain actions they were greatly unhappy to do.

Natsume walked up to Narumi's desk and slammed the scripts onto the table, a dark aura emitting from his body. Narumi sweat dropped, along with the rest of the class.

Realising what Natsume was planning to do, Mikan grabbed Natsume's things as well as hers and appeared beside him within seconds. Mikan quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room, though before closing the doors behind her, she turned around and said, "I apologise, but we'll be leaving early. Any further information can be passed onto Koko to tell us" and bowed before disappearing. Mikan turned around and grabbed Natsume by the arm as she continued to make her way out of the school.

"As much as you hate me, going up to Narumi isn't necessarily the wisest thing to do, no matter how stupid he looks" Mikan scolded Natsume as she let go of his arm. Natsume didn't answer her; instead, he glared at her and ran his fingers through his hair.

Mikan heaved a sigh and nodded. She then wordless handed Natsume his things and turned around to head back home, not caring whether Natsume would follow her or not. Natsume groaned and swung his bag over one shoulder before stomping after Mikan like a little child who didn't succeed in getting a toy he wanted at the toyshop.

In front of him, Mikan grinned. '_Suc...CESSSSSS_' Mikan shouted in her mind. Mikan whipped out her keys from the chain around her neck and opened the front door. Mikan and Natsume entered the house wordlessly and slung their bags off their shoulders, automatically making their way towards the kitchen. A natural instinct they always do. Mikan headed over to the plate of fruit and decided to have an orange, while Natsume headed over to the fridge and decided to have a cold water bottle to drink. Natsume grabbed one drink bottle and closed the fridge door. Then, he froze. He secretly peeked at Mikan, from the corner of his eye, to see her cutting an orange. Natsume opened the fridge again and grabbed another water bottle from the fridge.

"Here" he muttered to Mikan as he placed the drink bottle on table. Mikan looked up at Natsume, though continued to cut the orange. Natsume's eyes widened.

"What the hell are you doing?" he exclaimed. Mikan gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean? I'm simply cutting a … an orange- Hey! Now what are _YOU_ doing?" Mikan whined when Natsume grabbed the knife from Mikan's grasp.

"Well, if I allow you to continue cutting the damned orange, you'll end up missing a finger" he told her as he finished off cutting the orange into slices and grabbed another orange to cut into slices, since he decided to have one as well. Mikan stared at Natsume and smiled. Natsume realised what he had said and tried to make up for it.

"Of course, not that I care… it's just that I'd have to pick up the bill to fix you up or something" he muttered. Mikan silently laughed and nodded.

"Alright, I understand" said Mikan as she removed the lid of her water bottle. When Natsume finished cutting the oranges, he removed the lid of his water bottle and took a huge gulp out of it. Mikan reached for an orange and nibbled on it. Natsume raised an eyebrow at her and grabbed an orange and took a bite out of it. Natsume's eyes widened.

"HOLY SHIT, THAT'S SOUR" he exclaimed. Mikan stifled a giggle and concentrated on eating her orange. Natsume glared at her and took another large gulp of water from his water bottle. Natsume looked over to Mikan, to see her biting out of the orange.

"What the hell? Isn't it sour?" said Natsume, frowning. Mikan shrugged.

"On the first go it is, since you're not use to it, but you get used to it eventually and then it's nice" explained Mikan as she reached for a spare plate to grab a couple more oranges. Mikan smirked. "Kind of like sex, don't you think?" said Mikan, deciding to mess around with Natsume's head. Mikan collect the amount of slices of oranges she thought was enough for her before heading upstairs without a backwards glance, leaving Natsume dumbfound, still trying to process what Mikan had told him.

Natsume frowned and picked up his water bottle, taking another big gulp of water from it. "Oh, what the hell" he muttered before heading out into the lounge room wondering if there was anything to watch on the television.

Only, as soon as he sat down on the couch, Koko came bursting through the door, with Ruka, Mochu and Kitsuneme behind him.

Koko entered without a care, though Mochu, Ruka and Kitsuneme stood outside, wondering if they were allowed to enter the house.

"I'm _HOOOMEEE_" sang Koko. Natsume saw Mikan descend the stairs in a slouchy navy, oversized knit sweater with a large red heart on it, a violet skirt and fluffy pink slippers. By oversized, Natsume meant _oversized_. The jumper looked so big on her that it left her right shoulder was bare, since the side of the jumper fell off. One yank and the jumper would just slip off and down her body.

"Oh, welcome back, Koko" greeted Mikan. Mikan turned to the clock that was next to her on the stair case.

"You're back early" she added. Koko nodded with a grin.

"Narumi let us out early since there was nothing left to do, and he thought it was unfair that we were kept back."

Mikan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Wow, he really said that?"

"Nope," answered Koko. A smirk appeared on his face, "I just read his mind"

Mikan giggled and walked to the front door, only to see Mochu, Ruka and Kitsuneme with sheepish looks on their faces.

"Did you guys plan a sleep over and not tell me, or what?" Mikan asked them sarcastically before stepping aside, mutely telling them to come in.

The three boys entered the house and straight away headed for the TV. Mikan chuckled and asked, "Do you guys want any snacks…?"

"Yes, please!" answered Kitsuneme and Koko eagerly. Mikan laughed and made her way into the kitchen to get them a couple of snacks.

A couple of minutes later, Mikan came out of the kitchen, holding a tray of snacks and drinks. Mikan approached then with a kind smile of her face. "Here you go, guys" she told them as she lowered the tray onto the coffee table in front of them.

"Thank you, Mikan" said Ruka.

"Thank you, Mikan" said the rest of the boys in union. Well, all except Natsume, of course.

"No problem" replied Mikan as she grabbed a biscuit and looked at the time from the clock that was on top of the TV.

Mikan pressed her lips together into a lip line and turned around to head upstairs. Natsume watched her from the corner of his eyes. When she was out of his sight, he sank into the couch and heaved a sigh.

Natsume went into deep thought, recalling what Mikan had said on their way back to the house. "_As much as you hate me, Natsume, going up to Narumi isn't necessarily the wisest thing to do, no matter how stupid he looks"_

Natsume placed his fingers on his mouth, sideways, his elbow resting on the arm of the chair. Koko turned his hair slightly to see Natsume thinking about something. '_Wow, he looks as if he's posing for a photo shoot_' thought Koko.

"_As much as you hate me, Natsume"..._

The words repeated in his mind a hundred times. '_What have I done to get her to think that I_ hate_ her?'_ wondered Natsume. Natsume was in deep though when he sensed someone looking at him and slowly turned his head to see Koko quickly look away. Natsume raised an eyebrow at him, though let it go and turned his focus back onto the TV screen, only, he say something love in the corner of his eyes. Natsume turned his head to see what it was, only to be surprised by what he saw. Natsume frowned and he sat up straight as he saw Mikan descend the stairs. Koko, Kitsuneme, Mochu and Ruka saw Natsume's facial expression and followed his gaze.

They saw Mikan wearing a trench coat that reached her knees, covering whatever clothing was underneath with was paired with a pair of pair of classic red, leather wedge pumps that had a meticulously crafted wooden wedge. [All the links will be at the end]

"Where are you going, Mikan?" asked Koko as he and Kitsuneme approached when Mikan descended the final step. Kitsuneme stayed silent and circled around Mikan.

"Err, I'm, uh…" stuttered Mikan, having difficulty focusing because of Kitsuneme. Mikan shook her head and focused. "I'm going out for a bit. I'll be home late, so order pizza for dinner or something" answered Mikan. Koko pouted.

"We're not going to eat your lovely food tonight?" asked Koko, pouting. Mikan couldn't help but pat his shoulder and lean in to lightly kiss him on the cheek.

"Nope" she told him bluntly. Koko laughed and nodded.

"Fine, then" he murmured. Mikan smiled and grabbed her keys and placed it in her red clutch purse.

"Well, I best be off" announced Mikan as she turned to leave. Mikan stopped at the door and waved at them. "Bye, guys" she said as she opened the door. Mikan stepped out of the house and was about to close the door when she heard a very familiar voice call her.

"Hold on" Natsume called out. Mikan closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, already knowing what he was about to do. Mikan turned around and smiled innocently.

"Yes, Natsume?" asked Mikan.

"I'm going too" he told her. Mikan spun around and silently groaned, unhappy that she was correct about what she thought Natsume was going to do.

"Oh, no need" she told him, when she spun back around, fake smile on her face, but Natsume was already up the stairs.

"Hey, if Natsume gets to go, I want to go, as well!" complained Koko and Kitsuneme. Mikan sweat dropped.

"I should have just taken the balcony" muttered Mikan, face palming herself as the rest of the boys made their way up the stairs. Mikan stopped and looked around the empty living room.

"What the hell? Where are the rest of them going to get the cloth-" Mikan stopped and heaved a sigh. "Right…borrow from Koko" muttered Mikan. Mikan heaved another sigh and activated her Alice to communicate with Persona.

_How the hell am I meant to do the mission now? I've got five extra people coming along_ Mikan sent to Persona. Mikan could literally feel the deathly aura that Persona was emitting.

_Do you something about it, then. Or, take them along, but have a cover story. Just make sure you succeed with the main point of the mission _secretly_ got it?_ Persona instructed before cutting off the connection. Mikan groaned and leaned against the door frame, waiting for the boys to come back downstairs.

A couple of minutes later, the boys descended the stairs, all in dress shirts loosely tucked into their jeans. Mikan leaned off the door frame and headed out of the house, knowing the last person out would properly lock the door behind them.

Mikan started to head down the street, with her purse tucked under arm, and the boys trailing behind her. Ruka jogged up beside Mikan and walked along with her, not minding the glares he got from the boys behind him.

"Ruka's trying to score" muttered Mochu, smirking. Koko and Kitsuneme slapped him on the back of the head. "Ouch!" yelped Mochu, giving both of them a glare. Koko and Kitsuneme instantly looked away and placed their hands behind their back.

"So, Mikan, where are we going? Or at least, where did you plan on going?" asked Ruka.

"I have to do something… it's a bit…" Mikan thought for a moment, "Extreme, I guess? I don't know. Depending on what image I have been portraying for the past month or so" answered Mikan.

"A month" said Ruka.

"What?" asked Mikan, turning her head slightly to look at Ruka.

"We've known you for a month" Ruka explained. Mikan grinned and nodded.

"You count the days now, do you?" Mikan teased him, leaning closer to him. Ruka laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Mikan laughed along with him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Behind them, Mochu, Koko and Kitsuneme were giving Ruka dirty looks.

"Look at him, getting all cosy with him" muttered Kitsuneme, eyeing Ruka. Mochu and Koko agreed. All three of them crossed their arms over their chest and continued to watch Ruka carefully, waiting for him to step out of line, which was going to be difficult, since Ruka was brought up in such a respectful home. Not that they weren't, but Ruka simply had the advantage of being smooth with girls, the easy, simple and safe way, and unfortunately, they will never know how.

"You know that we still have school tomorrow, right?" said Ruka. Mikan nodded.

"Of course I do" answered Mikan, giving Ruka a look.

Ruka grinned and tightened his arm around her. Ruka's grinned widened when he heard Koko and Kitsuneme grunt behind him.

"This is fun, isn't it?" asked Ruka, looking down at Mikan. Mikan smiled lightly and nodded, slightly tapping Ruka on the back.

"Oh, the bus is here!" exclaimed Mikan as she jogged towards the bus leaving the rest of the boys to catch up with her.

"What the-" Koko started off.

"How is she running in heels?" exclaimed Mochu

Ruka waited for Natsume to catch up with him and started to head towards the bus together, while the rest of the boys, Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu walked slowly towards bus, amazed by how Mikan was able to run, regardless of the shoes she was currently wearing.

"Come on!" Ruka called out, "We're not going to wait for you three forever" he said. The three boys snapped out of it and raced towards the bus, not wanting to be left behind.

As they took their seats on the bus, Koko turned to face Mikan, who was seated beside Natsume on two seats beside them and murmured to Kitsuneme and Mochu, "I wonder what she's wearing under that trench coat…"

Kitsuneme and Mochu followed Koko's gaze, their eyes landing on Mikan's bare thighs. The trench coat had fallen off sideways, so Mikan's knee was sticking out from where the trench coat overlapped.

"Well, she is wearing something underneath that coat, right?" Kitsuneme half-asked and half-stated; he then turned slightly towards the rest of the boys and added, "Right?" with his eyes widened.

The rest of the boy's eyes widened as well and their eyes trailed back to Mikan. Koko opened his mouth to suggest something, but decided to close it.

"I guess we'll find out later, then" said Mochu. All three boys nodded, though they continued to look. It wasn't until Natsume turned his head slightly towards their direction that they jerked back into their proper seats, pretending to look busy with something else - as if they hadn't been overly thinking about random scenarios involving Mikan.

* * *

><p>"Where in the heck are we?" asked Mochu as they all stepped off the bus. Mikan silently stepped off the bus and continued to make her way to her destination, leaving the boys in suspense as they followed her.<p>

Natsume, being the one who was currently walking beside Mikan this time, was the first to see where they were heading, which caused him to almost choke on his own spit. Not that he had a problem to where they were going… he just had a problem with the girl beside him going to where they were headed.

They heard a faint sound of music nearby. Koko, Kitsuneme, Mochu and Ruka caught on and realised where Mikan had decided to go and all stopped in their tracks, eyes wide.

"Whoa, what the hell!" exclaimed Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu. Ruka stayed silent, knowing he was in no place to say anything. Ruka simply looked over to Natsume and gave him an 'is-she-for-real' look. Natsume shrugged and looked at Mikan, who was standing still, watching the entrance of the area, which was guarded by security. They were still outside, and Natsume wanted to get it over and done with.

Mikan turned her head slightly to look at Natsume. Natsume raised an eyebrow and jerked his head towards the entrance of her destination.

"So, are we going in or what?" he asked her, coolly. Mikan pressed her lips into a thin line and stayed silent. For three intense seconds, no one moved a muscle.

"Let's go" she told them before entering first, herself, past the security guard, who stepped aside without any questions asked. Natsume smirked and followed, only to be stopped when Ruka grabbed his arm.

"What on earth is all this, Natsume? Please tell us you planned this" said Ruka. Natsume stared at Ruka, then Koko, then, Kitsuneme and then Mochu. Natsume didn't bother to talk. Instead, he shrugged and walked in, not caring if the rest of the boys were going to enter.

Koko took a deep breath in and started towards the door. Soon, he was followed by the rest of the boys, all nervously hurrying past the security guards.

When they were in, the faint sound of music that they had heard a while ago was now booming through their ears. The lights that were only faintly seen from the gaps between the doors were now flashing brightly before their eyes.

"Why in the hell did Mikan lead us to a _club_…?" muttered Kitsuneme. They all turned and spotted Natsume, who was leaning against the wall, eyeing something, or at least, eyeing _someone_.

The boys headed over to Natsume, excusing themselves as they walked between people, occasionally feeling someone slap their behinds. When they reached Natsume, they followed his gaze, to see Mikan. Well, at least they _though_ it was Mikan. Wait, was it?

All the boys stood still, following Mikan as she made her way across the club. Her trench coat was now unbuttoned and they were able to see what she was wearing underneath.

Mikan was wearing a high-low dress with a lace back, triangle bodice and open cut- outs. All the boys pulled on the sleeves of their dress shirts as Mikan walked closer to them. Koko and Kitsuneme jogged up to Mikan and spun her around.

"Wow, Mikan. I never knew you had it in you to wear this kind of stuff" commented Koko, grinning as Kitsuneme continued to circle around her.

Mikan swiftly took off her trench coat, fully revealing the whole outfit and handed it to Koko.

"I'll take your purse as well, Mikan" he told her. Mikan shook her head.

"It's okay" she told him, "I need it" she added. Mikan turned around and scanned her eyes around the club. She then turned around to quickly tell the boys she needed to go to the restroom. All the boys nodded, still dumbfound by the way Mikan was dressed.

Mikan quickly made her way towards the restroom, before locating her target and _purposely _accidentally bumping into the person.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. The man turned around, as if ready to tell her off. Only, when he saw her, his expression changed from a pissed off one to an amused one.

"Oh, it's alright" the man told her. Mikan gave him a smile and held out her hand.

"I'm Catherine" she introduced herself. The man accepted her hand and shook it.

"And I'm Mark" he told Mikan.

'_Well, you're a good liar, aren't you_' Mikan sneered silently. Mikan let go of his hand and placed it gently on his arm. 'Mark' started down at her hand and smirked.

"Are you sure that bump you did was accidental?" he joked. Mikan giggled and moved her hair on one side, making sure 'Mark' saw her exposed neck, and indeed, he saw her neck.

"How about a drink or something?" he suggested. Mikan gave him a smile and nodded. 'Mark' turned to head towards the bar to get the two of them drinks when Mikan grabbed his arm and pressed her body against his. Mikan needed to get onto her toes regardless of her heels and whispered into 'Mark's' ear.

"Or we could go out the back…" she suggested seductively. 'Mark' smirked, liking the idea.

"Choosing from drinks to going out back, I like your suggestion before" he said, huskily. Mikan smirked and grabbed his hand to pull him out the door.

Before Mikan disappeared out of sight, she quickly glanced back and saw Natsume. Mikan saw his eyes, the eyes that once had the little respect he had for her had disappeared in his eyes, left with disgust and… disappointment.

Mikan shrugged off the weird feeling within her and shut off her emotions. It would be for the better anyway, right?

* * *

><p>End of Chapter<p>

* * *

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	11. As much as I can remember and tell

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter ten

Mikan and Natsume entered the house in silence. Neither of them talking or looking at each other. Mikan headed upstairs, taking two at a time, desperate to get the smell of alcohol off of her, while Natsume stayed downstairs and headed for the lounge room. He grabbed the book he was currently reading off the coffee table and picked off from where he read.

Mikan entered her room and slammed the door shut. She hurried into the bathroom to get a shower. Mikan tore off her clothes and threw them in the laundry basket before hopping into the shower and putting the water on.

As Mikan started to clean her hair furiously, her thoughts went back to the time in the club. Koko, Kitsuneme and Mochu had left early and made their way out. Mikan knew that Koko was still awake in his room, because the light was still on.

'_I wonder what they think of me now_' wondered Mikan as she rinsed her hair. Mikan remembered the stares she had from the boys. Her thoughts went back to Natsume. Mikan's eyes snapped open.

"Oh, CRAP!" Mikan exclaimed when some soap went in her eye. Mikan quickly rinsed her face to try and stop the stinging.

After she finished her shower, Mikan came out of the bathroom, finished up the buttons of her red, satin sleep shirt that stopped about half way down her thigh. Mikan slowly made her way over to her study table and pulled out a draw, taking out a diary.

She sat there in silence with a pen in her hand, staring blankly at the book in front of her, letting her mind slowly start up. Then, she started writing.

'_Dear Diary,_

_Does the world always revolve around everyone? Or is it that for every century or millennia that one is blessed in their life? I've just recently realised that. I never really gave life much thought except the fact that my life is very screwed up. I fill as if I have had every bad thing that could happen, even though it's not true. I know that there are people out there struggling more than I am. But is it bad to be so selfish once in a while? Because from what I know, my sadness often eats me up and I end up having to find myself having difficulty breathing. It's a hard thing to handle, isn't it? I mean, I would definitely think so._

_Sadness, loss and despair._

_Why must the world contain all of this? Why are the people we are meant to love and adore, also be the ones we hate to be with most? And why must all our regrets happen when it's too late?_

_Love. It's something difficult. No one…No one at all has been able to conquer it. No matter what any legend or story has ever been told. I find it hard to believe that people can conquer anything with love. It would be more of the understanding that Love would have started off everything to begin with. Wouldn't you agree? Because, honestly, what you begin, is what you should end._

_Is this how hopeless I am? Am I destined to push people away until I regret it?'_

Mikan stopped writing and stared down at the two pages filled with her writing. She then flipped back a couple of pages to re-read what she had written. When she finished, Mikan slowly took out another diary from the drawer of her desk. This one was older, with a lot of creases on it. Mikan started to re-read some of the diary entries she had written. The very diary from when she was still young and clueless.

As she read, her eyes started to sting. With every word she read, she found it harder to believe. With every sentence, she found it harder to breath. With every paragraph, she found it harder to understand. With every page, she found it harder to see. She kept reading until finally, she gave in and let the tears roll down her face. Her tears rolled down her cheek, leaping off her chin, before falling onto the diary in her hands. Mikan placed the book on the table and burst out into tears. The sound of her cries filled her room.

Mikan instantly sat up and wiped her tears away when she heard footsteps approaching her room. And without a doubt, someone knocked on her door.

'_It's Koko_' stated Mikan, foolishly. '_Who else would it be?_' Mikan thought sourly. Mikan put her diary away before making her way over to the door. Mikan opened the door with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Koko" Mikan greeted him.

"Whoa, how'd you know it was me?" asked Koko, amazed. Mikan let out a small laugh and shrugged.

"You're the only one who would knock. We both know the other person wouldn't knock" Mikan joked quietly. Koko didn't catch the tint of sadness in her voice, so he laughed at her joke.

"You got _that_ right!" he bellowed. He then straightened himself out and looked at Mikan seriously.

"Um, are you alright, Mikan? I thought I heard…something…" he trailed off. He had just realised Mikan was only wearing a shirt, and no pants when he looked down at the ground to see her bare legs.

"Do you have a habit of not wearing pants or something?" Koko joked.

"Do _you_ have a habit of not wearing a shirt?" Mikan joked in reply. Koko laughed and winked at her. Mikan winked back.

"So… is there anything wrong…?" wondered Koko. Mikan heaved a sigh and leaned against the door frame of her door.

"I don't know" she answered him honestly.

"Were you cr-" Koko was about to ask, when he decided to shut up when he saw Mikan's eyes watering up.

"Oh, Mikan, I'm sorry" whispered Koko. "I didn't mean to upset you or anything" he told her. "I was just-"

"It… It's alright, Koko" Mikan reassured him in a slightly shaky voice. Koko took a step forwards and pulled him into him for a tight embrace. Mikan hugged him thankfully, burying her face into Koko's chest.

"So, what's wrong?" Koko asked her in a whisper.

"I'm emotionally unstable" Mikan muttered sarcastically. Koko chuckled and buried his face into Mikan's slightly damn hair.

"I'll accept that answer for now, then" replied Koko. He then pulled away and looked Mikan in the eyes. "Why don't we get you to bed then, hm?" suggested Koko. Mikan buried her face into Koko's chest again, not wanting to let go. She still needed more comfort.

"Can you…?" Mikan asked him in a small voice. Although Mikan didn't finish the question, Koko understood. Koko let out a sigh and picked Mikan up bridal style.

"Alright" he told her before carrying Mikan into her room, using his foot to close the door.

Unbeknownst to Koko, Natsume had been watching them from beside the staircase all along.

'_What the _hell_ was all that?_' Natsume exclaimed in his mind. He hadn't been able to hear anything, so he was frustrated. God knows _what_ they could be doing in the room at the moment. Natsume shook off his frustration and headed for his room, slamming the door closed the moment he entered.

Inside Mikan's room, Koko had placed Mikan on the bed and covered her body with the blanket. Mikan shut her eyes when she heard Natsume slam his door shut. She had known he was there, watching. That's why she had placed a silence barrier around her and Koko, so only they could hear each other, and not anyone else.

"So, are you ever going to tell me?" asked Koko. Mikan placed her arms over her head.

"I was hoping that you'd forgotten about it" muttered Mikan. Koko scoffed.

"As if I would forget" he told her.

Mikan sighed and sat up and pated the space beside her on the bed, silently telling Koko to take a seat on her bed. Koko slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. He stayed silent as Mikan rested her head down on her pillow again.

"Lie down with me" whispered Mikan, patting her pillow. Koko grinned and lay down on the bed. Mikan moved over slightly for Koko to have more room on the bed, but Koko stopped her by wrapping his arms around her body and pulled her against his own.

"So, is this your way of breaking news to someone, or what?" kidded Koko. Mikan let out a small laugh and slightly shook her head. They were both lying on their sides, facing each other. Then, within a second, they both turned serious.

"I still can't tell you, Koko" Mikan whispered. Koko nodded sadly, failing to hide his disappointment. Mikan raised her hand and caressed his cheek.

"I'm really sorry, Koko. You have no idea how much I want to tell you-"

"Then why not tell me, then?" butted in Koko.

"-But the thing is, I can't" continued Mikan with a solemn look on her face. Koko heaved a sigh and nodded.

"Fine," muttered Koko, "I'll leave it for now" said Koko. "But, on one condition" he told her.

"Just… Promise me…" he told her. Mikan gave Koko a small smile and nodded.

"I promise, Koko" she answered, already know Koko wanted to say. "I'll tell you the moment I think I can tell you" she promised, her voice barely a whisper.

Koko nodded, satisfied. "Alright then, I'll take that answer then" he told her, grinning. "So, how about we play a game that can get us to know each other more?" suggested Koko. Mikan thought for a moment.

"Hmm alright, then" agreed Mikan. Koko's face lit up with his excited.

"Alright, then, um… how about a game of truth?" requested Koko. Mikan gave Koko a look of suspicion.

"NOOO, that's not what I mean. I won't ask any question related to that" promised Koko, knowing that Mikan thought that he requested to game so he could know what Mikan was hiding.

"Mm, I'll take your word on it, then" said Mikan, pretending to suspicious of Koko. Koko smirked and pinched Mikan's cheek.

"You're so cute" he told her. Mikan pretended to bite his hand, which caused Koko to pull his hand away. Koko chuckled.

"Alright then, you can go first" Koko offered.

"Alright then," answered Mikan, "Hm… have you… had your first kiss yet?" asked Mikan. Koko blushed.

"Are you offering?" Koko joked. Mikan laughed.

"No way!" she exclaimed. Koko feigned hurt. Mikan grinned and gave him a peck on the cheeks.

"There" she said as she laid her head back down on the pillow. "So, have you?" asked Mikan. Koko shook his head.

"No, I haven't" answered Koko. "Alright, my turn" announced Koko. Koko looked around Mikan's room and noticed something.

"Tell me about your family" he said. Mikan's expression, that was once eager, was now dark. Mikan closed her eyes and whispered, "I don't have a family"

Koko turned to look at Mikan. "What do you mean…?" he asked her in a soft voice, hoping Mikan wouldn't close up again.

"I never knew any of my family. I've only heard of them from someone that I _consider_ as a brother. My parents died a long time ago, apparently. I don't know how. I was never told. My brother promised to tell me when I'm older… when…" Mikan stopped and tilted her head up slightly to look at Koko. His expression was regretful. Regretful for having to ask Mikan to bring up something she probably didn't want to bring up. Mikan gave Koko a sad smile and said, "It's alright, Koko"

Koko looked Mikan in the eyes and saw her sad, brown orbs, trying their best not tears escape again.

"Oh, Sweetheart, I'm so sorry" he muttered as he brought Mikan to his chest. And like that, Mikan cried. Letting all her bottled up feelings go and out into the world.

"I never knew them, Koko" Mikan told his in a shaky voice. "I don't even remember their faces. I don't even have a picture of them. I have no memory, whatsoever. I never even bothered to find out about them. I'm a horrible person, aren't I?" she cried into Koko's chest. Koko rocked her like a baby, back and forth.

"No you're not, Mikan. You're a wonderful person" he told her. Mikan continued to cry. Koko pulled Mikan away slightly and forced Mikan to look him in the eyes.

"You're a wonderful person. Don't forget it, alright?" he told her. "If you ever need someone to hold you… come to me. Even if it's over a broken nail, you can count on me. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here. If you need someone to give you advice, I'm here. If you ever need someone to hang out with, I'm here. I'll _always_ be here for you, alright?" reassured Koko. Mikan nodded, her lips shaking. Koko nodded and kissed Mikan lightly on the forehead before pulling her close to him, allowing Mikan to let her tears to flow freely.

"Goodnight, Mikan" Koko muttered as Mikan fell into slumber. Not long after that, Koko fell asleep as well. With his arms still wrapped around Mikan, and Mikan's arms wrapped around him, he definitely had the best sleep in ages.

* * *

><p>Mikan was the first to wake up. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Koko's sleeping face in front of her. Mikan let out a small smile appear on her face. She carefully and quickly got out of the bed, careful not to wake up. Mikan turned off her alarm clock so it doesn't and headed into the bathroom to freshen up.<p>

Mikan exited the bathroom to see Koko had claimed the whole bed to himself. Mikan chuckled quietly and made her way out of her room to go downstairs and grab something to eat. As Mikan headed downstairs, Mikan looked at the clock to see it was a little past six. Mikan ran her fingers through her hair, when she suddenly had to yank her hand out because of all the knots.

"Aw, I should have run a comb through my hair" groaned Mikan as she continued down the stairs. Mikan entered the kitchen, only to see Natsume in the kitchen, searching through the fridge to find something to eat. Mikan cautiously entered the kitchen, hoping Natsume would snap at her or something. Instead, Natsume turned around and stepped aside, allowing Mikan to have access to the fridge.

Mikan quickly made her way over the fridge and looked around to see what she could make for breakfast. While she did that, Natsume went to make himself a cup of coffee.

"Um, can you wait about twenty minutes?" asked Mikan as she prepared the ingredients.

"Yeah, whatever" muttered Natsume as he poured himself a cup of coffee and exited the kitchen to make his way upstairs. Mikan heaved a sigh and prepared the stove.

Mikan turned to grab a knife when she spotted the cup of coffee prepared for her on the kitchen table. Mikan smiled and walked over to get a sip. When she was ready, Mikan quickly prepared breakfast.

About half an hour later, Mikan headed upstairs with a tray of three sandwiches filled with sliced button mushrooms, sliced leg of ham, spinach leaves and an egg, along with two cups of coffee- one for herself, and one for Koko.

Mikan brought the tray into her room. When she entered her room, she saw Koko still fast asleep. Mikan couldn't help but smile at the boy's child-like atmosphere he was creating. He was so adorable. Mikan set down the tray on her study table and walked over to wake Koko up. They wouldn't want to be late for school.

"Koko, wake up" Mikan whispered, shaking Koko slightly on the arm. Koko groaned and pulled the blanket over his head.

"Five more minutes" Koko muttered under the blanket.

"Are you sure you want five more minutes?" asked Mikan in a cheeky manner. Koko slowly took off the blanket.

"What do you mean to say?" asked Koko, obviously getting a different idea to what Mikan _actually_ meant. Mikan walked over to her study table and held up the tray of food.

"Do you want food, or not?" asked Mikan. "I'm making up for last night, but if you don't want it, it's more for me" said Mikan. Koko immediately sat up and held out his hands. Mikan laughed and handed him his plate and coffee.

"Enjoy" was the last thing Mikan said before grabbing Natsume's sandwich and headed out the door, closing it behind her.

Mikan walked across the hallway and stopped in front of Natsume's room. Mikan took a deep breath in and knocked on the door. A muffled, "Come in" was heard through the door. Mikan slowly opened the door and carefully stepped in, as if being careful that someone would pounce out at any second. Mikan looked around the room to see… an empty room. Mikan walked out on the balcony and saw Natsume looking out on the street, this hands resting on the balcony railing.

"Here's breakfast" Mikan announced, holding out Natsume's plate with his sandwich on it. Natsume turned around with 'Hn' and grabbed it. He then turned back around to look out onto the street without another word. Mikan stood there for a moment awkwardly before slowly turning to leave. Before Mikan could take another step, Natsume appeared beside her and pulled her to the side, and backed her up against the bookshelf, trapping Mikan between him and the bookshelf.

"Just who _are_ you?" asked Natsume. Mikan was caught by surprise, but she managed to hide it. She didn't want to use her Mind Reading Alice, but if she had to, then she would definitely end up using it.

"What do you mean?" Mikan asked innocently. Natsume heaved a sigh.

"One minute you're one of the most idiotic and dense people every known, and then the next…" Natsume paused for a moment, "The next, you're going out to… clubs? I mean, honestly, what the hell?"

Mikan let out a sigh and turned her head to look the other way.

"Why would you care" murmured Mikan. They both stayed silent, staring into each other's eyes. A couple of minutes later, Natsume dropped his hand and ran it through his hair.

"Tch. Whatever" Natsume grunted and turned away. "You should probably go and eat your own breakfast" he added before take a sip out of his coffee, disappearing out onto the balcony.

'_Stupid, son of b- no… no, Mikan, you must calm down. You must not curse over that no good, mood swinging jerk_' thought Mikan, glaring at the last spot where she last saw Natsume. Mikan spun around and stomped out the door, unconsciously slamming the door shut behind her. Mikan cringed when the door came in contact with the door frame.

"Oops, I wasn't meant to do that" muttered Mikan before heading into her room.

"Come on, Koko, off you go," instructed Mikan, "you still need to get ready for school" she told him. Koko stuffed the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and nodded.

"Alright" Koko muffled through his full mouth, as he picked up his cup of coffee to head back to his own room.

* * *

><p>"Good morning" Ruka greeted Mikan, Natsume and Koko as they entered the classroom.<p>

"How did you guys sleep last night?" Mochu asked as he wrote down his answer for his math homework.

"It was great" answered Koko, with a big grin on his face. Mikan glance at him and smiled, giving him a slight nudge in the rib. Koko slightly flinched, though covered it up, making it look as if he had planned to move beside Mochu to take a seat.

Natsume, who had made his way to his seat and taken out his book to read, had seen Mikan nudge Koko in the rib.

"Alright, class, to your seats" announced the teacher as he made his way towards his desk.

Throughout the whole lesson, Natsume pretended to read his book, though, in fact, he was watching Mikan in front of him.

Mikan placed her left elbow onto her desk, the other hand carelessly writing down notes on what the teacher was saying. She was going to regret writing so carelessly later, but at the moment, she couldn't care less.

'_It's going to be a long day'_ she thought.

* * *

><p>AN: In this chapter, I _sort_ of reaaaally wanted to start up Mikan and Koko's relationship within the story. It was fun...and weird. Don't know why but, meh.

I hope you enjoyed it! Drop a review? Tell me what you think?


	12. And it begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter eleven

* * *

><p>"MIKAN, COME ON, I NEED TO SEE WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO WEAR FOR THIS EVENING. IT'S ALREADY THREE O' CLOCK, FOR GOODNESS SAKES!" exclaimed Koko at the bottom of the steps. Beside him, leaning against the railing of the stairs, Natsume rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest.<p>

"Alright, alright, calm down, Koko!" Mikan yelled in reply.

Just then, Mikan came down in a long sleeved 'Sorority' shirt with a long sleeved sweater over a blushing pink sheath column strapless, floor-length Chiffon over Elastic Woven Satin dress. Koko gawked at Mikan's outfit.

"No, no, no, no, no, no" he repeated over and over again as he leaped up the stairs and pulled Mikan back into her room.

"Honey, if you wear that to the premier tonight, you're going to regret it" he told her. "Let me get a look at your shoes" he instructed.

Mikan lifted up the hem of her dress to reveal a pair of Leatherette Flat Heel Sandals.

"Oh my, god" muttered Koko. "Honey, you would _definitely_ regret it" he told her. Mikan pressed her lips together. How would she have known what to wear?

'_Tch, this guy…_' Mikan thought, giving him a look as Koko headed into her closet to see what else she had. In less than 7 seconds, Koko came out again, with his phone attached to his ear.

"Yes. Right now" he ordered. Koko hung up and turned to Mikan. Koko examined Mikan's hair and nodded. Mikan had styled her hair up into a polished up do, her bangs covering her forehead with a couple of face framing strands free. It felt weird to let her bangs out. She usually pinned it up.

"Your hair is lovely, so we'll leave that. But get out of the outfit and put on a robe or something. Some people will come in less than five minutes with a variety of dresses for you, alright?" explained Koko. Mikan nodded and turned to bathroom as Koko turned to leave her room.

Mikan quickly, though carefully, undressed, careful not to ruin her hair, and put a robe around her and made her way out of her room, only to be bombarded with people.

Koko entered last and closed the door and started instructing people to do… something. Mikan wasn't able to catch on. She had already been put down in a chair that she was sure that wasn't hers and rack of dresses appeared out of nowhere.

A lady stood beside the rack and took out a dress and held it up next to Mikan, before turning her head towards to Koko. Koko disapproved, so the lady put the dress away and took out another dress to hold it up beside Mikan.

While Koko kept disapproving each dress the lady held up, Mikan started to smell something funny.

"What the-" Mikan was cut off when someone held her chin and started to apply something on her lips. As the person in front of her started applying some make up on Mikan's face, she felt something slightly fixing Mikan's hair, though the person disappeared seconds later.

'_Hmm, at least I did _something_ good_' thought Mikan.

"Hey, don't make the make up too thick! We don't want her look fake! We only need a little bit of make up!" bellowed Koko. "Wipe it off and apply it again. This time, make it light, but keep the eyes. The eyes are great" he ordered. The person that was applying makeup on Mikan apologised and quickly went back to work. Mikan gave the person an encouraging smile. The lady in front of her smiled back and quickly went to work, carefully wiping off all the makeup she had applied previously.

Mikan sat still and stared at the rack of dresses in front of her. Mikan's gaze fell onto a dress near the end of the rack. She instantly fell in love with it.

"Koko, that one" she told him, pointing out the dress she wanted. The lady beside the rack took out the dress and held it beside Mikan. Koko's eyebrows shot up, having been obviously impressed. He nodded and made his out of the room.

"Alright, let's get you dressed up, shall we?" someone asked Mikan. Mikan simply nodded and headed to her bathroom with the dress in her hands.

"No, wait, Miss Sakura, please use your closet…" a man asked. Mikan sweat dropped, though decided to do what they wanted her to do. When Mikan entered the closet, she realised that they didn't want her to go into the bathroom because there were mirrors… Mikan heaved a sigh and stared at the dress in her hands.

"Let's see if I can zip you up" Mikan spoke to the dress before taking off her robe.

When Mikan exited the closet, she was wearing red chiffon, column V-neck evening dress that reached the floor. The dress was sleeveless and had side draping and ruching embellishments. Just then, Natsume entered the room. Everyone instantly turned to sound of the door opening. Mikan's eyes widened and she immediately tried to hide behind the person closest to her. Mikan saw Natsume roll his eyes and walked over to her study table to grab her purse.

"Koko's going to go crazy if you don't hurry up" he muttered, playing around with her black, patent leather clutch. Mikan stomped towards Natsume and snatched her clutch from his hands. Natsume took the opportunity to look at Mikan.

'_Not bad_' he thought. Of course, he wouldn't tell her that.

"How ugly" he told her, smirking. Mikan blew a raspberry at him and turned to the rest of the people in the room.

"Am I good to go?" she asked them.

"Of course not, dear" a man answered. Mikan gave him a confused look.

"Why?" she asked him.

"You haven't even looked at yourself in the mirror, yet" he answered, grinning. Mikan smiled and nodded. Mikan made her way over to the mirror and was shocked by what she saw.

"Wow… this is completely different to what I was wearing about half an hour ago. It's hard to believe it" Mikan murmured, stunned. Mikan looked down at her dress and realised she had no shoes. Mikan turned around to point it out, when she sensed something being thrown towards her direction. Mikan immediately turned around and caught it in a swift move. Mikan glared at Natsume, having been the person that threw her shoes at her.

Mikan looked down at the shoes in her hands. They were black, exquisite patent leather, platform sandals, matching her black clutch. Mikan placed the shoes on the ground, pulled up the hem of her dress and quickly put on shoes. Then, just like that, she was much taller.

"It feels funny" Mikan complained. Natsume raised an eyebrow at her.

"You've worn heels before. Don't complain" said Natsume. He then rolled his eyes when he head Koko yell from downstairs.

"Let's go, then" said Mikan as she made her way towards the door. Though, before she left, she spun around and asked the people in her room, "Uh, are you guys going to, like-"

"Oh, don't worry about us, we'll be out in no time - even before _you _exit the house" a lady answered. Mikan nodded and smiled.

"Mikan, Natsume! HURRY UP, ALREADY!" Koko yelled. Mikan cringed.

"Any more yelling out of you, Koko, and I'll make sure you won't have anything to wear for this evening" said Natsume as he descended the steps. Natsume looked back to see Mikan looking through her clutch bag.

"Hurry up, Polka dots" Natsume called out impatiently.

"Alright, alright, Mr Impatient" Mikan retorted. "I was just checking if I have all my things with me" Mikan adding in a murmur. Mikan quickly made her way down the first couple of steps, before slowly getting into an even paced, graceful strut down the rest of the stairs, followed by Natsume behind her, with his hands in the pocket of his pants.

"Wow, Mikan, you look wonderful" Ruka complimented Mikan, Mikan smiled and thanked him.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Ruka" said Mikan, grinning. Mikan looked around her and sweat dropped.

"The sad thing is you're all dressed in the same thing" Mikan added.

"Yeah, well…it's sort of… always like that" said Koko as he checked the time on the clock.

"Crap, we've got to go!" exclaimed Koko as he grabbed a bag.

"Koko, what do you have in that bag?" Mikan asked.

"No time, to say, Mikan. Let's go" said Koko. "It's fifteen minutes to four, the event starts at six, but we have to be there by five for check ins and all, and it takes an hour to drive there" Koko told her as everyone packed into the car waiting for them outside on the driveway.

The drive was anything but silent during the drive. Koko was on the phone talking about stuff that Mikan only understood half of, same with Natsume as well. Mikan looked over at Ruka, who was on his laptop, typing furiously with his headphones on, communicating with someone through it. Mikan kicked off her high heels and stretched her arms upwards. Mikan leaned back into the seat and relaxed.

In the corner of his eye, Natsume watched Mikan get comfortable in her seat, rest her head in the palm of her hand, resting her head against the car window. He saw her eyes slowly close, trying to stay awake.

'_How is it possible to be sleepy at such a time?'_ wondered Natsume.

"Alright then, I'll let them know. Thanks" he heard Koko say. All eyes were on Koko, who was returning to his seat after talking to the driver. Koko signalled for everyone to end their calls. Koko waited a couple of minutes for Natsume and Ruka to end their calls before speaking.

"Alright, we're almost there, people, so get ready, put your shoes back on, set your things aside, and be prepared to be busy" said Koko, mainly talking to Mikan. Mikan nodded and quickly put on her shoes again. As soon as she put on her shoes, the car started to slow down. The second the car stopped, Koko opened the door and ushered everyone out of the car. Natsume went out first, then Mikan, then Ruka, who let Mikan get out first. Mikan gave Natsume a glare for going out first, instead of allowing her to head out first.

"Alright, people, let's go" said Koko, signalling them to follow the person in the suit with a tag on his pocket sleeve, indicating that he worked there.

After a quick five minute walk turning left and right many times, they finally reached their stop. The man in the suit turned around and nodded.

"There are people in the room to fill you in on the schedule" said the man. All nodded and headed into the room, where they were greet by two women, one with short, blonde hair with black streaks on her fringe, and one with long, black hair that was tied up. They were both wearing the same thing – a white blouse, black pants, and sport-looking shoes. They also had a tag attached to the front pocket, like the man in the suit a moment ago. The only difference was their picture and details.

"So, we're going to quickly fill you in, and then let you go. There will be a limo waiting for you right outside the door when we finish" explained the one with short blond hair.

The two girls started to fill them in. Mikan was getting frustrated. Their flirting was too damn obvious. The whole time they were meant to fill Koko, Ruka, Mikan and Natsume in about the evening, they were too busy leaning forward and fixing their hair. Mikan was about to stand up grab the sheet of paper from their hands and read it herself when Natsume snapped.

"Look, we don't care. Just give us the damn paper for us to read ourselves" he told them with a spine chilling glare. The two girls nodded and handed him the sheet, which he snatched out from their grasp. Natsume handed Mikan the sheet without bothering to look at it himself.

Mikan gave him a confused look. Natsume gave Mikan a look saying 'what are you looking at?'

"You're good at remembering, aren't you" stated Natsume. Mikan nodded and took the paper from Natsume's hands. As she read, a small smile formed on her face.

'_So he remembers a couple of things about me…'_ she thought. When she finished, she offered the paper to Ruka and Koko, who simply shook their heads and silently told her to hand it back to the two girls across from them. All of them stood up after Mikan handed the paper to the girls.

"Alright, the limo's out there. Remember, at least half an hour fan service, please. The musical starts at seven, though you need to be ready to be seat by half past six, since the musical starts immediately. It is currently fifteen past five" the girl with long black hair told them. Mikan smiled at them and thanked them. They simply gave her a dirty. Mikan turned around shrugged, not caring. She knew they were jealous. Didn't understand why they would bother, though. Not that she cared. It was their job, not hers. They were being _completely_ unprofessional.

After heading into the limo that had been waiting for them, as said, the fan service started. There were lots of questions from the crowd, paparazzi and reporters about Mikan and who she was.

"How the hell do people survive walking up and down for almost two hours?" Mikan whispered to Koko and Ruka, as she stood between them for a photo.

"I don't know, but I'm more wondering as to how _women_ are able to walk up and down for over two hours in _heels_" Koko whispered back before separating to make their way over to Natsume, who was currently standing with his hands in his pockets, in his natural pose. Before making her way over to Natsume, Mikan asked Koko for the time. Koko looked around and pointed towards a large, shiny clock attached to a wall. Mikan smiled and thanked him. Lights from cameras started flashing when she smiled at Koko.

'_Holy crap, it's only been a little past fifteen minutes'_ thought Mikan as she made her way over to Natsume. Koko and Ruka had decided to go over to talk to the girls that had bought tickets to meet the people attending the musical premier. Mikan almost laughed when she heard girls screaming crazily as Koko and Ruka made their way over to them.

As Mikan walked up to Natsume, he turned to her and held out a hand. Mikan smiled and him and held onto his hand tightly. She was grateful he was being so kind, but she knew it wouldn't last. After the cameras were out of sight, Natsume would revert back to his impolite and silent ways.

_Mikan clenched up her fist in her lap, trying to calm down._

"_You didn't have to go you know" stated Natsume, beside her. Mikan looked up at Natsume, to see him staring out the window, his elbow leaning against it._

"_What do you mean?" asked Mikan._

"_You have some sort of phobia or something, don't you?" questioned Natsume, an eyebrow raised._

"_Well… I don't know about 'phobia'…but-"_

"_It's still some sort of fright that you have about going in front of large audience, right?" said Natsume nonchalantly._

"_Yes, but, you see… wait, how did you-?" Mikan was cut off by Natsume._

"_That's enough, then. Just stick with me for today, alright?" Natsume told her, turning his head slightly. Mikan nodded and smiled at him gratefully. The limo came to a stop and Mikan's smile faded in a blink of an eye._

"_I'll go out first, then you" Natsume told her quietly just before the door opened. Koko and Natsume stepped out of the limo first. The second they stepped out of the limo, camera lights started flashing, people started screaming, yelling and shouting heaps of questions. Mikan carefully stepped out of the limo and stood beside Natsume, who was then joined by Ruka._

"_Let's get going, then" announced Koko with a professional smirk on his face._

A reporter pushed in front of another and yelled out, "You two seem really close to each other, mind telling us if you're dating?" he asked. Other reporters started asking similar questions. Mikan glanced at Natsume to see him with stoic expression as usual.

'_So the question didn't bother him, then'_ thought Mikan, for some reason slightly offended.

"Let's get going" muttered Natsume. Mikan nodded and followed behind him. They both made their way over to Koko and Ruka, who were still flashing charming smiles at the girls.

Mikan walked over to stand beside Koko, only for him to have taken a step back. And like that, hell had taken one step closer. Koko had bumped into Mikan, causing her to slightly trip over her own feet, and land onto Natsume's chest.

Camera lights started flashing like crazy. Some of the girls that had been standing behind the golden bars and red cords started to squeal, while others cried, knowing that they would never be able to be as lucky as Mikan to fall on _the_ Natsume Hyuuga's muscular chest.

Natsume instinctively shielded Mikan from the blinding lights, while Mikan hid her face in Natsume's chest, blushing wildly. Natsume turned his head to glare at Koko, having to have been the one to bump into Mikan.

Koko gulped. That look. You can never be mistaken as to what that look was if it were to have come from Natsume Hyuuga. The 'I-am-going-to-kill-you' look.

What the hell had he done? Koko was almost certain that this time Natsume would kill him. Koko knew that by, at the very least, tomorrow afternoon, pictures of Natsume and Mikan would be all over the news, on the front cover of magazines and newspapers.

"Yeah, well, Ruka, I'm going to go now…" said Koko as he quickly turned away in another direction. Koko knew Natsume wouldn't do anything to him while cameras were about, but if looks could kill… actually, with Natsume Hyuuga, look _can_ kill.

Mikan had started to calm down though her grip of Natsume's suit started to tighten. Natsume felt Mikan grip on his suit tighten, so he looked down with an amused look on his face.

"Don't enjoy it too much, Polka dots" he told her with a smug look on his face. Mikan glared at him, though her grip on his suit stayed.

"You jerk" she whispered as she hid her face into his chest once again. Natsume couldn't help but smirk. This girl was too unpredictable.

"Come on, guys. They're letting us in since the reporters are starting to go wild" Mikan heard Ruka say. Mikan turned her head slightly to face Ruka.

"How do we get out of here though?" asked Mikan. She had to wait a moment before her question was answered, since a fan had asked Ruka to take a picture with her. Just then, Koko appeared out of nowhere.

"It's simple, Natsume, you carry Mikan" said Koko with a calm expression. He obviously didn't know that two people were mentally preparing his murder right on the spot. The two people right in front of him.

Ruka sweat dropped when he saw the glare Natsume was giving to Koko. "Um, sorry to say this, Natsume, but I think that would be… quite effective. For you _and_ for Mikan" said Ruka.

"And how so?" asked Natsume, now turning to glare at Ruka. Ruka started to sweat.

"Uh, well, you see, um… you could be portrayed as a hero? I don't know. Mikan wouldn't have her face shown?" Ruka tried to list out the good reason for Natsume to simply carry Mikan into the theatre. 'Oh, come on, Natsume. It won't be long" whine Ruka.

"Ruka, I don't care if Natsume ends up agreeing, I will not allow him to carry me" Mikan stated seriously. Natsume smirked.

"Oh really, now?" he asked her. Mikan glared at him.

"Yes, of course" she answered. Mikan let go of Natsume suit and straightened herself out. Natsume's smirk widened.

"Well, if it's a good publicity stunt, Ruka, I guess I can't pass that opportunity" said Natsume. Mikan's eyes widened.

'_He wouldn't _dare_'_ Mikan thought as she took a small step back. Oh, how she was wrong. Natsume pulled Mikan towards him by the arm and swept her off her feet, carrying her bridal style.

Mikan pit her lip to prevent screaming. Instead, she hid her face into Natsume's shoulder and used her fist to softly hit his other shoulder.

As they walked past, Mikan heard everything go silent. _'You have _got_ to be kidding me'_ she thought. Mikan closed her eyes, listening to the faint sound of Natsume's heartbeat, and before she knew it, she was set back onto her feet, back on steady ground. Well, at least it was _meant_ to be steady ground. Mikan had a hard time gaining her balance and ended up falling onto Koko. Koko caught her helped her stand up.

"Tch, let's go already" said Natsume, suddenly irritated.

"Gee, what's his problem" muttered Mikan, as she followed Koko and Ruka towards their seats in the theatre.

Natsume was in front, so he was offered the first seat, followed by Koko, Mikan and then Ruka. All of them were about to sit down when they suddenly saw Natsume walk in front of Koko.

"What's wrong?" asked Koko as he slowly took his seat.

"Stand" said Natsume. Koko hesitated, though did as he was told. Koko stood up, and was pulled aside by Natsume. Natsume grabbed Mikan by the arm and pulled her over to where he was meant to be seated, and then sat down in Koko's original seat. Koko and Ruka sweat dropped, though they let it go and sat down. So now, Mikan was seated first, then Natsume, Koko and then Ruka.

All of them stayed silent until the musical started. Mikan looked around to see the theatre start to fill up. Mikan heaved a sigh and leaned back into her seat. Mikan glanced at Natsume, who was typing something on his phone. Mikan peeked at his phone to see him texting someone. Mikan looked back at Natsume to see him frowning at his phone. Mikan shook her head and decided to leave it for now.

* * *

><p>The bottom half of Mikan's body was sore. Staying too long in one spot was too uncomfortable for her. Mikan turned her head slightly and saw Natsume secretly checking his phone. Mikan frowned and leaned into Natsume.<p>

"You know it's rude to be on your phone while people are trying to talk to you, right?" asked Mikan. Natsume stopped going through his phone and turned his head slightly to stare at Mikan.

"You know it's rude to put your nose into people's business?" Natsume answered back. Mikan rolled her eyes and took a step away, not bothering anymore.

"You're impossible" Mikan muttered. Mikan turned to look around the room.

They were currently at the after party of the musical and the people that attended the musical were going around, greeting and meeting each other.

Mikan frowned, having noticed something wrong.

'_Something's on'_ thought Mikan. Mikan looked around the theatre to see a couple of men around the area, like the one that helped Mikan, Natsume, Ruka and Koko around backstage. The security looking guy. Like the guy that helped them around backstage, he had a suit and a tag on his name. Only problem was, two of the security guys that were nearby where Mikan was seated, their tags that were attached to their front pocket of their suit had a slightly different font to the original.

Mikan used her Mind reading Alice to know what they were thinking. Mikan's eyes widened when heard what one of them said. Mikan quickly turned to go to Koko.

"Koko, I need you get out of here with Ruka and Natsume, you got that? Right. Now" she told him.

"Oh, really? But the food is sooo-" Koko stopped when he saw the look on Mikan's face. "Damn, you're serious, aren't you?" he asked her.

Mikan nodded and said, "Yes, now go. Get Ruka and Natsume. _GO_" pushing Koko towards Ruka. Mikan turned around to see that Natsume was gone. Gone.

Mikan face palmed herself. Of all times, the boy decided to take a walk around. Just then, Koko approached her, telling her that he wasn't able to find Natsume anywhere. Mikan heaved a sigh and nodded.

"Alright, then" said Mikan, "you and Ruka get out of here. Go home, do whatever you want. I don't care, just keep the house nice and clean" she told him as she pushed the two of them towards the exit.

Mikan placed her hand on her head and looked around for Natsume.

"Damn it, where the hell is he!" Mikan muttered, extremely irritated. Just then, Mikan felt his presence close by. Mikan immediately went towards the direction where she felt his presence. It wasn't long till she saw him chatting to an old man with a beard of what looked like business related stuff. Mikan approached Natsume and tried her best to smile.

"Hello, I'd like to borrow Mr Hyuuga for a moment, do you mind?" Mikan asked the man. The man nodded.

"It's alright, I think we're just about done, anyway" said the man.

"Great" Mikan muttered before pulled Natsume aside.

"Tch, let go of me" said Natsume, glaring at Mikan. Mikan rolled her eyes and was about to answer back when she remember her purpose of finding him.

"We need to go" she told him. Natsume gave a look, as if she had gone crazy.

"Look, I'll explain later, but, right _now_, we need to go!" she exclaimed as she tried to pull Natsume towards the exit. Too bad Natsume wouldn't let her. _'Freaking hell, this is going to be harder than it looks'_ thought Mikan.

"_We're good to go now"_ Mikan heard with her Mind Reading Alice. Mikan's eyes widened. Just then, all the lights went off and her grip of Natsume's arm disappeared.

"NATSUME!" Mikan yelled, spinning around, trying to search for him. And like that, the lights went back on, though there was a man standing on the top of the staircase, looking over everyone.

"Well, I hope everyone's been having a good time tonight, because from now onwards, whatever you do, might the last thing you will _ever_ do" said the man. Next to him was a bulky, bald guy. Mikan's eyes widened when he saw who the bulky guy was holding onto.

"Natsume…"

* * *

><p>END OF CHAPTER<p>

* * *

><p>AN: I SINCERELY APOLOGISE ABOUT THE TIME IT TOOK ME TO UPDATE… too much homework, and the teachers are starting to stack up with assignments. I apologise.

Drop a review? ^^

[Mikan's fail outfit]  
>[Shoes] cloud. lbox. me images/ v/ 201204/ leatherette-flat-heel-sandals-flats-with-satin-flower-beading-party-evening-shoes-more-colors-available _ tyzerj1334572834222. jpg  
>[Dress] cloud. lbox. me images / w/ 201106/ Sheath-Column-Strapless-Floor-length-Chiffon-Bridesmaid-Dress _ ikrmwb1308729404957 .jpg  
>[Shirt and sweater] www . showponyfashion product _ images  s / 607 / showpone _ 20120411 _ 5461 _ 29752 _ zoom .jpg 

[Mikan's outfit]  
>[Dress] cloud. lbox. me images/ w/ 201109/ Chiffon-Sheath-Column-V-neck-Floor-length-Evening-Dress-inspired-by-Odette-Yustman-at-Oscar-FSH1102228- _  
>[Clutch] www. jimmychoo content  ebiz / jimmychoo / invt /247rianepat / 247rianepat _ large _ fr_ black . jpg  
>[Shoes] www . jimmychoo content  ebiz / jimmychoo / invt / 247louisapat / 247louisapat _ large _ fr _ black . jpg


	13. What you will least expect

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter twelve

* * *

><p>Mikan leaned her head against the wall and heaved a sigh. How could it have come to this? Mikan threw her phone on the couch with all her might. She was surprised it didn't break into tiny pieces.<p>

Mikan had been able to escape before they rounded everyone up.

"_Alright, if everyone does what we say then no one will get hurt, especially this guy" instructed a tall, tough looking man, pointing a gun at Natsume's temple. Everyone stayed quiet. Mikan quickly created a replica of herself and turned herself invisible at the same time, so she would be able to slip away and no one would notice - because she was still, in a way, there. Mikan made her way to the first place that came into her mind – the bathroom._

_Mikan knew that it would be clear because that was the first place the…_–_ what would you call them? Kidnappers? – had cleared out. Mikan quickly made her way into restroom and quickly closed all the doors of the cubicles before hopping into one herself, this way it would seem less obvious that someone would be hiding in one of the cubicles._

_The second she entered one of the cubicles, Mikan deactivated her Invisibility Alice and teleported herself out of the building, to the basement in her house, hoping that she would be able to return soon to save everyone._

Mikan ran her hand threw her hair and tried to think of a plan. Mikan paced around her basement and thought of a plan.

'Well, first off, Natsume's being held ransom… the simplest plan to go for is to hand them the money they'll probably demand for' thought Mikan, 'too bad they might not keep their word on releasing everyone, though'

'Second of all, it's not possible to teleport in there and simply teleport him out of there, because the people that are also held hostage in there will be killed the second the people that are holding everyone hostage find out that Natsume was gone…_'_ Mikan stopped pacing and frowned, realising that she couldn't use her Alice either way.

"I can't allow that to happen…no way am I going to save one life and risk hundreds of others…" Mikan muttered.

"Yes, you will" a familiar voice spoke behind her. Mikan's eyes hardened. Of course Persona was there. She knew he was, and he knew that she knew. Though, of course, he was waiting to make his big entrance.

"No, I won't Persona. I'm not going to risk the lives of many people simply for _one_ freaking person" Mikan told him calmly.

"You will do whatever it takes to save Natsume Hyuuga. It is your job. Whether one person, a dozen people or hundreds of people die is none of your concern. Your main objective is to save **Natsume Hyuuga**" replied Persona. He then learned forward, towering over Mikan and said in a stern voice, "Am I clear?"

Then, like that, he left the basement, leaving Mikan alone. Mikan scoffed and rolled her eyes. After that, she let her rage loose. She punched and kicked the punching bags, she kicked the benches, she threw dumbbells all over the place, all while tears streamed down her face.

She never wanted to do all of this…these stupid _missions_. She hated it. But she cared for Persona. Although they were not blood related, he was like a brother to her, and was there when she needed him… like five years ago. More tears streamed down her face.

For all her life she had known Persona. He was her brother. She knew that Persona could only see the dark side of the world, and that he was slowly being consumed by the darkness more and more every day. But she knew that there had to be a way to help him see the bright side of things again, and try to get him to do the right things without hurting others.

He had taught her so much like how to protect herself, like how to defend, how to attack when needed, read people's faces and reactions and how to… figure out people's plans…

Mikan's eyes widened. That's it. Mikan felt like slapping herself for not realising it sooner. The ransom was all a set up. There was something else that they wanted… Mikan quickly stripped out of her clothes and teleported into her closet. Mikan scanned her racks of clothing and grabbed a pair of tight black pants and a dark grey three-quarter sleeve shirt that hugged to her body.

She had learnt the hard way that unless you were purposely trying to get caught, then having baggy clothes flying everywhere when you're jumping around and trying to be as swift as possible was the best way to do it. If not, it would be like asking for a death wish.

Mikan quickly put her clothes on then grabbed a pair of combat boots and put them on. Last of all, Mikan walked over to the very end of her closet and grabbed a shoe box that lay among many other shoe boxes.

Mikan opened the shoe box, revealing a white mask, with a black, rugged outline around the edges. Mikan sighed and threw the box on the ground and exited her room.

Everything in her house was complicated. Mikan entered the bathroom upstairs – the one she asked the boys not to enter. This was because of a specific reason. Mikan entered her bathroom and tilted the walls back, now revealing, not a bathroom, but a place where she stored her weapons. Well, at least one whole wall of the bathroom was filled with weapons.

Mikan grabbed the weapons she believed would be useful. And with that, she exited the bathroom, locking it with her Alice in case Koko was to come home soon.

Speaking of the devil, Mikan heard Koko's voice as he entered the house with Ruka.

"Ruka, turn on the TV, would you? I have a feeling something's on… I'm just going to change out of this stupid suit…" Mikan heard. Mikan quickly entered her room before Koko made his way up the stairs and saw her.

Mikan put on her mask and teleported into the toilet cubicles at the party, where she had last escaped from. The second Mikan teleported away, Koko had opened the door of her room, ready to enter.

'I'll deal with him entering my room next time' Mikan thought when she was inside the toilet cubicles.

* * *

><p>The sky had gone dark and the wind was blowing against the doors of the auditorium, where the after party was held. A bald man walked up to a middle aged man.<p>

"What do we do now, Sir?"

"We sit and wait. Just make sure everything is in order and no one tries to pull off any funny stuff" instructed the middle aged looking man with a crooked smile on his face. The person that asked the question nodded and bowed down ninety degrees.

"Yes, Katashi-sama" he answered and stood back up to leave him alone.

Katashi rested his cheek on his fist and smirked. He had waited for a long time for this. It was time. He had planned this for a while and he was confident. Katashi took a sip from his glass of wine and stood up to walk over to Natsume, who was leaning against the wall with his ankles crossed.

"So, tell me, why do you people go to such great lengths just to rob a couple of thousand… or a couple of million dollars or so for?" Natsume asked casually as if he had known the man in front of him for a long time. Katashi scoffed.

"Boy, you have no idea what money is able to do nowadays" replied Katashi. He turned around so Natsume was facing the right side of his body and said in a calm voice, "people say that money alone doesn't bring you happiness" he stopped for a moment and chuckled quietly to himself. Katashi turned to Natsume with an amused look on his face.

"What have you to say to that?" asked Katashi.

"About?" Natsume asked in a way that seemed as if he hadn't been paying attention to Katashi the whole time.

"About money not being able to bring people happiness" Katashi repeated calmly. Natsume scoffed.

"It's a load of bullshit, for a first" muttered Natsume. The amusement in Katashi grew.

"Really?" he asked as he signalled someone to bring him a chair. As a woman with blonde mid-length hair with black streaks approached them holding a chair for Katashi to sit on, Natsume continued to speak.

"For my whole life, money pretty much grew on trees in the backyard," he said as he shoved his hands into the pocket of his pants, "and I have come to believe that money is able to buy everything. Simply because having money… you buy shit with it. Anything you want. You can buy anything with it. Name it and you can buy it. You want sex? You can buy it with money. Find a person willing to give you sex for a couple hundred. You want air? Buy an oxygen tank. You want love? Buy someone willing to fake it"

"But what about the happiness, boy? Surely, you can't buy such a thing" said Katashi, interested to hear Natsume's answer. Natsume scoffed at the question.

"Why would you need happiness when you can have everything else" he muttered.

"But what about true love, boy? You, also, cannot buy such a thing" said Katashi.

"There is no such thing as _true love_" Natsume bellowed.

"Oh, let me tell you something from past experiences, my boy. There is, indeed, such a thing as true love. Maybe not at your age, but soon, my boy, soon"

Natsume and Katashi stared at one another for a long moment before Katashi was called somewhere else. When Katashi was gone, Natsume heaved a sigh and took out his phone. He thought the guy would have taken it away, but since he didn't, he might as well use it.

* * *

><p>There had been many times where Mikan had screwed up on her missions. She admitted it. She was human, after all. But she would never have predicted that she would try to <em>purposely<em> screw up a mission.

Mikan had received a phone call from Natsume. Of course, she knew that he was probably going to complain about something, or he wanted her to prepare food for him once they were free… however long it was going to take.

Of course, on other occasions, Mikan would have never brought along her phone, but today, she felt the need to bring it. Now she knew why. Taking a deep breath, Mikan answered the call and brought her phone up to ear.

"Hello?" she answered.

"I'm amazed you're able to answer the phone. In any other situation, I'm sure one of the guy would have blasted your head off" Natsume said with great amusement in his voice. Mikan frowned at his tone.

"I was able to get out of there before they locked the place down, Natsume. I'm outside with the many pissed off families and friends… and not to mention lots of police" she told him, adding in a couple of lies. When she told him, she was still thinking whether it was a good idea to tell him or not, but she told him nevertheless.

"How is that possible? They rounded everyone up in less than three bloody minutes. How could you have gotten out of here, hm?" Natsume questioned. Mikan rolled her eyes, knowing that Natsume would ask that.

"I'm a unicorn, alright? Now shut up and listen" she told him, starting to get impatient. On the other side of the call, Natsume raised an eyebrow at her. Did Mikan just tell him to shut up? He was going to deal with that later, but for now, he decided to listen.

"Hn" he answered in his usual bored, annoying tone. Mikan's eyebrow started to twitch. If she hadn't promised his mother that she was going to protect him, she would have charged in there and slapped him, not caring about any of the consequences that followed. He could be so frustrating in such a short period of time. Mikan heaved a sigh and spoke.

"Look, I'll find a way to get you out of there in a moment. But first, what's going on in there? Is anyone hurt so far?" she asked him.

Natsume glanced around and answered "They look as good as they might as well be, considering the fact that they're surrounded by huge, overly muscular bald guys with guns. Other than that–"

Suddenly, his grip on his phone disappeared. Slowly turning his head to the person who dared take his phone, he glared daggers at the guy that snatched his phone away.

"What the fuck? You dare take my phone, you son of a–"

"Just shut up" was all the man said before turning away to hand the phone to Katashi, who was watching Natsume with great humour in his eyes.

On the other side of the line, Mikan rolled her eyes. As expected of Natsume to be possessive over his things. Her face turned serious when she heard a different breathing pattern from Natsume's.

"Hello, there. You're quite the interesting one to be called. Who might you be?"

Mikan's eyes widened. What the hell? This voice… she's heard of it before. Mikan decided it would be a better idea to not speak.

Hearing nothing on the other side of the line, Katashi continued to speak.

"I know you're still there and listening with perky ears, hoping for some sort of information, right? Well, I'll tell you this. I'm expecting a visit from someone. So, either give me money, or bring me who I want"

"And who is it you want?" asked Mikan.

Katashi smirked. Such kids nowadays always knew how to amuse him with their stupidity.

"You wouldn't know of her existence, trust me"

"Try me, old man" Mikan replied, voice full of venom.

"You dare speak to me in that tone?" questioned Katashi in a dark tone. However, his eyes continued to dance in amusement.

"If there was anything that I was to despise, it would be a son of a bitch that cares more about their money than people's well beings. It's completely low. And for, that, you will pay. Hurry up and tell me who you want" Mikan growled.

"You do realise that you're asking for a trade of a human life rather an simply money, right?"

"Better one life than hundreds" Mikan simply answered, remembering what Persona said. It pained her to say it. But it was the only way that seemed best fit to convince the guy she was talking to at the moment.

"Bring me…" Katashi glanced over at Natsume, who seemed to be calmer now and was leaned up against the wall.

"The one that names herself as 'Akumu', or better known with the last name of the delicate cherry blossom"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Well, uhh... HELLOOOOOS. I'm baaaaaaaack~

I'm sorry for not updating in such a long time. But it's finally holidays and I have 6 beautiful weeks to write and edit and what not. I'll also be editing the earlier chapters sooo... yup.

#ohhowimissedtypingtomyselfli kethis

Leave a review? (:


	14. For what is to be revealed

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

><p>"You… Who are you…?" Mikan asked with her eyes wide. It wasn't like her to be caught by surprise, but there was something about this person that Mikan felt a great familiarity with.<p>

On the other side of the phone, Katashi smirked.

"You don't know who you're dealing with, kid. Don't try to be such a hero when in truth you're just a–"

"Oh, shut it already. Someone's going in" Mikan muttered before hanging up. Mikan squatted down onto the ground for a moment to catch her breath. It was definitely him. How, though? She was informed that he was dead a while ago. Could it be that Persona…? Pushing the thought aside, Mikan teleported to a blind spot of the area, where she was able to get a clear view of the people within the building, yet remain undetected – upstairs.

Mikan crouched down low and made her way around the top level, into the VIP rooms that were once strictly guarded, and now left free for her own use with her mission. Mikan stood up against the wall and peered out onto the balcony of the room, where she was able to get a clear view of everyone below.

"Hand the phone back to the boy" instructed Katashi. The man did as he was told and handed Natsume his phone, which he snatched out of the man's grip with a glare.

Katashi smirked.

"What an interesting girl…" he muttered as he rested his arm on the arm rest of the chair. He glanced over at Natsume, who was currently staring straight at him. Katashi signalled him to approach him, which Natsume didn't respond. In the end, one of Katashi's guards pulled Natsume by the arm to get him off the wall before pushing him forward. Natsume turned around to glare daggers at the man.

Mumbling some unintelligent words under his breath, Natsume walked over to Katashi with his hands in the pocket of his pants.

"What?" Natsume asked irritably as he leaned onto one leg, looking uninterested in whatever the man in front of him was going to say.

"You don't seem fazed by the fact that you're in a room full of men, hired by me, fully armed, and are willing to do whatever I tell them" stated Katashi, interested in Natsume's character. Natsume simply shrugged as an answer.

Natsume made his way over to the railings of the stairs and rested his hands on them. He was able to see the confused and frightened looks of the people below him. Being able to look over them the moment, Natsume was amazed that all the people in the room used to have some sort of power in their hands – whether it was with money, or with fans – all of that was now taken out of their grasps. Now, all they were was helpless.

"Frankly, I'm quite confident that I'm going out of this alive" Natsume stated casually as he turned around to face Katashi.

"Oh, really?" Katashi asked with a raised eyebrow. He leaned his elbow onto his knee and rested his chin on his fist and asked, "What makes you so sure?"

Natsume smirked. "Let's just say I know a certain someone who's a bit too stubborn for their own good" he said.

Then, at that very moment, he say someone appear behind Katashi.

Katashi, seeing Natsume's sudden change in attention, held up his hand to stop them from attacking whoever was behind him.

"And you are…?" questioned Katashi.

"Why don't you answer your own question first" Mikan muttered as she slowly advanced towards Katashi. Mikan walked up next to Natsume and smirked.

"Why don't you join the group downstairs" said Mikan. She didn't ask him, but she couldn't exactly tell demand something from him – Which was exactly as she expected.

Natsume raised an eyebrow at the person in front of him. He felt a familiarity with the female currently in front of him, but he decided to put the thought away for the moment.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" he questioned her. He could have sworn the person before him was currently smirking behind their mask.

"Why not just knock him out like you usually do?" they heard an amused voice behind them. The girl turned around and placed her hands on her hips.

"I'll do whatever it is I wish to do" she grumbled. Natsume raised an eyebrow at her. 'Says the person who just tried telling me to do something' he thought.

Mikan, however, considered what the man in front of her hand told him and turned around to face Natsume once again. She walked up close to hit, until their arms slightly brushed against each other once Mikan tiptoed so that she was tall enough to whisper into Natsume's ears.

She placed her hands on Natsume's shoulders and whispered, "Sorry."

Sensing that he let his guard slip, Mikan took the opportunity to knock him out. Catching him before he hit the ground, Mikan looked at Katashi, who waved a careless hand in the air, signalling someone to take care of Natsume.

"Care to join me in a separate room?' Katashi asked the young girl in front of him, her guard up. He figured it would be best to start warming up to her. The girl agreed with a simple nod.

"However, it's interesting how you're acting as if you own this place, even though all you did was round everyone up and place your men around the area" he heard her mutter.

Katashi had his bodyguard open the door for them. However, he stopped his bodyguard short when he was about to enter the room.

"It's alright. You can stay out hear and guard the door" instructed Katashi. His bodyguard nodded and closed the door.

Turning around, he was met with what he expected – a fist flying towards his face. The following event seemed like it was happening like the speed of lightning, as if they were simply doing a rehearsed show.

By instinct, Katashi avoided the hit and held onto Mikan's wrist. She then flew her left fist at him, and Katashi did the exact same thing and caught her fist with his own left hand. Now, no longer able to move her hands, Mikan tilted back to allow more room for her right leg through the gap, that remained between their tangled arms, to try and kick him in the face. She then lifted up her other leg and kicked it over Katashi's shoulder before jumping behind him. She swiftly freed her wrist from his grasp and grabbed onto his arms. Now, with his right arm helplessly in the air, Mikan used the strength in her arms to flip her over, with the assistance of her right leg to kick him in the rear, sending him flying over her with a thud when he landed on his two feet.

They stood still, simply observing their opponent. Katashi noted the mask that the girl in front of him was wearing. The mask simply covered half her face; however the side without the mask revealed her porcelain skin. The mask also stretched over to cover around her eye, where the part of her face wasn't covered by the mask. The edges of her mask had a fine, black rugged detailing. [Not the exact same one, but yeah – www. justposhmasks uploads/ products/ Undecorated_ Mask_ VM31LUN. Jpg]

Although a mask only seemed like a mask, Katashi knew that it was chosen for a reason. He knew the girl in front of him very well after all. He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the girl in front of him starting to smile.

"You…" Mikan started off. Katashi let out a small smile. He held out his arms for a hug.

"Yes, it's me, Mikan" he told her. However, Mikan continued to speak.

"You were meant to be dead" she said bluntly. Ouch.

"Wow, Mikan. Never knew Persona sharpened your tongue so much whilst I was away" mumbled Katashi. Mikan grinned and jumped in for a hug.

"Where did you…?" Mikan asked as they pulled away. It was hard to believe that the person in front of her at the moment was dead to her just moments ago. Katashi was exactly the same as he was two years ago before his disappearance. He had a frown that seemed to be permanent on his face and his lips were in their usual crooked smile that would be able to scare away most females that would try to approach him.

"I'm a man of many ways, Kid" Katashi answered with a simple shrug of his shoulder. Mikan sent him a glare which he simply dismissed with a wave.

"Calm down, Kid. I'll explain what I need to explain. Take a seat, would ya?" said Katashi as he sat down on one of the arm chairs. Mikan followed suit and sat down next to him.

"How's the other kid doing?" he asked. Mikan thought for a moment, trying to figure out who he was talking about.

"Uh… he's doing well, I suppose"

"Really…? I thought he would have attempted to take over the world by now with me out of the way" muttered Katashi with slight amusement shown in his eyes. Mikan let out a soft chuckle, though she couldn't help but take what Katashi said a tad seriously.

"Alright, fire away" Katashi finally spoke after a moment of silence.

"Where were you?" Mikan asked almost immediately as soon as Katashi allowed her to ask.

"In hiding"

"…Where?"

"Can't say"

Mikan narrowed her eyes, though she decided to let it go and continued to ask a couple of question. When they were almost done, most of Mikan's were answered; however, there was one final crucial question that she wanted answered. Mikan sat in her seat, not knowing how to bring up the question.

"Although we both know what you're thinking, let's pretend we're not. However, I'm just deciding to bring up this information freely… Persona knew that I wasn't dead, kid. He was the one that brought up the plan in the first place, in order to 'make you stronger'. I don't know what he did, but it definitely worked. You're becoming much more powerful than you're probably given credit for"

A bitter smile appeared on Mikan's face. "Really...?" she muttered. "So he knew…" Mikan murmured to herself. She had known Persona for a long time, and knowing him as much as she did, there were still many things that were left unsaid and untold.

Katashi shrugged. "Well, what can you do? It's his… sense of character, I suppose. He likes – no – he _drives_ on perfection" Katashi leaned back into the arm chair and continued, "I'm not going to lie, though. His skills are, without a doubt, very impressive. Although, yes, he does need to calm down every now and again"

Katashi turned his body to face Mikan and said, "By the way, I've heard that you're attending _school_ now. How are you holding up? Is there anyone troubling you?"

Mikan glanced over at Katashi and grinned. "Even if someone _did_ happen to try and trouble me, you know I would be able to deal with them" she replied.

Katashi chuckled. He then leaned onto the arm rest of the chair and spoke in a soft, teasing voice.

"So…tell me, have anyone special?"

* * *

><p>"...Natsume…"<p>

Mikan glanced at the person beside her. Bringing her hand up to her mouth, she cleared her throat and quietly called the attention of the person she wished to pay attention to her.

Hearing his name, Natsume turned around with an uninterested look on his face.

"What is it?" he muttered when Mikan didn't continue to speak.

"Uh, you should hurry up and eat more, or else…" Mikan glanced at all the other people around the table. Koko and Ruka looked up with a curious look on their face. Mikan shook her head slightly in reply and returned her attention to Natsume.

"I'll have to excuse myself now. Good night. Leave the dishes in the morning for me to wash" said Mikan as she got out of her chair.

Mikan quickly made her way up the stairs and closed her bedroom door shut before making her way over to a locked desk drawer to open up a document.

As she read through the document, she wondered how amazing it was that everyone was able to return to normal after everything that happened.

_-Flashback-_

_Mikan glanced at Katashi from the corner of her eye._

"_How do you plan to get out of here, Katashi?" Mikan asked._

_Katashi raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, look at you, avoiding questions" he spoke with a smirk. Mikan rolled her eyes._

'_No, seriously, Katashi. How the hell are you going to clean up this mindless mess you've made?" Mikan asked, as her patience began to wear thin._

"_Oh, kid, I'll leave that up to you" Katashi answered with a smirk._

_Mikan heaved a sigh and stood up. From his seat, Katashi watched as Mikan began to plan. _

"_It's been less than an hour since you've caused this little mess" Mikan muttered as she paced around the room._

"_Hey, it's not a mess-"_

"_It is for someone who's doing the cleaning up for you" Mikan snapped back. Katashi pretended to zip his mouth up and toss away the key to show that he would stay silent._

"_Right, I think we can get away with some ridiculous excuse" Mikan finally said. Katashi sweat dropped._

"_Are you sure you're as good as Persona says, 'cause from what I just heard…"_

"_Look, Katashi, I don't do things for free. As close as our relationship may be- family or not, it's your own business" Mikan cut him off. "And speaking of business, I have my own business to carry out. What makes you think that I'll help you out of something after you made my job much more difficult?"_

_By now, Mikan had shifted her weight onto one leg, crossed her arms over her chest with an eyebrow raised. Katashi smirked._

"_Wow, so Persona did indeed teach you well" he said. Mikan rolled her eyes._

"_Can you stop saying that already? Yeesh" Mikan muttered._

"_Alright, alright… Tell you what, kiddo. Why don't you just run along home and change back to the attire that you were wearing before I interrupted and come back here after you finished changing, hm?"_

_Mikan narrowed her eyes._

"_What do you plan on doing?" Mikan asked._

"_It's my business" answered Katashi, grinning. Mikan growled._

"_You words ought to end up going 'round to bite you in the backside someday, sweetheart. Now, off you go" he told her. Mikan nodded and teleported herself back to her room to change._

"_You always keep your nullification activated, right?" Katashi asked. Mikan nodded. Katashi nodded and then walked away._

_Mikan did as she was told and _

_Then, just as Katashi had told her to do, Mikan entered the room, the very same room that Natsume had been kept hostage, only to see that very thing was in place and all the people that were previously held hostage were going on with their conversations as if nothing had happened._

"_How did he…?" Mikan thought to herself. 'Did he use an Alice or…?'_

"_What are you doing, standing around like an idiot?"_

_Mikan turned around to the familiar voice._

"_Where have you been?" Mikan asked him. Natsume raised an eyebrow at her._

"_Your reason for needing to know?" he asked in return. Mikan rolled her eyes._

'_It's a matter of life or verge of death for someone if you don't answer the question' thought Mikan as she looked at Natsume directly in the eyes, still waiting for an answer. Natsume shrugged and turned around to walk out the door. Naturally, Mikan followed him._

"_I was just talking to other company CEOs, of course" Natsume answered. Mikan nodded slowly._

"_Really?" she asked after a moment of silence._

"_What makes you think otherwise?"_

"_Nothing… I'm just asking"_

"_Whatever" Natsume answered as the valet driver arrived with his car. Natsume wordlessly took the car keys from the man and slid into the driver seat. Mikan followed, thanking the valet driver for opening the door for her._

_The ride home was silent until Natsume broke it. Yes, Natsume._

"_Something's not right" he muttered. Mikan glanced at Natsume from the corner of her eyes, seeing now that Natsume's eyebrows were now pulled together into a frown, she realised he was trying to figure something out._

"_What do you mean?" she asked._

_Natsume stayed silent, focusing on the road as he drove. Well, he _should_ be focusing on the road for crying out loud._

_Just when the tense atmosphere in the car was about to drive Mikan crazy, Natsume spoke – in the one tone that pissed Mikan off. A lot._

"_Where were you… during the party, anyway? You disappeared" he asked her. Mikan's eyes narrowed._

"_What do you mean…?" Mikan asked again._

"_You disappeared in the middle of the party. You didn't go to… do anything did you?" Natsume snapped, his tone accusing._

"_Me… disappeared… what are you implying, Natsume? That I sneaked away to burn down a building?" Mikan ask, her tone even, though her eyes glared daggers._

"_How the hell am I supposed to know?!" Natsume snapped. "All I know is there is this feeling inside me that's freaking _pissing_ me off at the moment and I don't know what the hell it is, woman"_

_Mikan slammed back into her seat and closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath in order to calm herself down._

'_Calm down, Mikan. The boy is simply being an idiot. He doesn't know any better' she thought, as she tried to convince herself to not kill him right now and then. Meanwhile, Natsume's mind was racing miles per second._

'_Calm down, Hyuuga. It's all good. It's cause of the work load you have to do later on. Or maybe the stress built up. Maybe it's time to go hit the gym' he thought. Natsume took a glance at Mikan beside him as the car came to a stop in front of their- no. _Her_ house._

_Natsume stepped out of the car and headed towards the door, locking it behind him when he heard Mikan close the passenger door. Both walked into the house silently, ready to change, ignoring the curious looks from Ruka and Koko._

_-End of flashback-_

Mikan ran her fingers through her hair, not knowing what to do. For the first time ever, she was worried. Mikan was deep in thought when she felt a presence near her. Knowing who it was, Mikan calmly put her documents away back into their designated drawer and locked it up before turning to face the person as they entered her room.

"Koko, you should really learn to _knock_ before entering, you know that?" Mikan spoke casually as she got off her seat and walked over onto her bed.

"Yeah, I know…" Koko replied. Immediately, Mikan knew he wanted to say something. Heaving a sign, Mikan pat the side of her bed, mutely telling him to join her. Wordlessly, Koko took the spot next to her and on the edge of the bed and lay down with his hands crossed behind his head. Mikan turned her body around do that she was facing him.

"What is it you want to talk about?" she asked.

Koko sat up and sighed.

Silence filled the room as Koko stared at the bed sheets, deep in thought. Mikan watched him cautiously, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say.

After a long moment of silence, Koko raised his head and looked Mikan in the eyes.

"It's time to spill, Mikan."

* * *

><p>AN: HAI, EVERYONE! Er...Long time no update...? Hehehe... o.o

I'm sorry! I just didn't have time. But, I updated today so...yay...?

Leave a review? :)


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